It’s not so much the flying that’s difficult…

At this level, everyone can fly; you wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t. The hard part is the automation and learning to make the airplane do what you want it to do. Making sure you push the right button at the right time to program the right profile, make the right callout, and perform the correct procedure. The flying itself is an afterthought.

However sometimes, at the end of a grueling sim session, when you’re already wearing your oxygen mask and smoke goggles, midway through an emergency descent because of cargo fire and smoke in the cockpit, your instructor starts feeling extra mischievous and decides to give you an engine fire warning a few seconds after you finally break out of the clouds and see the runway. Then it becomes more than the automation. It’s more than the flying too. It’s about how calm you can force yourself to be even though your ears are ringing and every bone in your body is telling you to panic, rush, make a mistake, or give up. He’s purposely overloading you and giving you more than you can handle in order to see how you react. He expects you to make a mistake and fail so that one day, if it happens with 74 people in the back, you’ll do it right and get them on ground safely.

If I’m ever in a situation where it’s our collective asses on the line and my actions will directly influence whether or not people live or die, success will be a result of the quality of training I’m undergoing right now. It’s quite literally some of the most vitally important lessons I could ever learn.

In the moment, though…it’s like…