Desensitization question

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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The first plane crash video I think I ever saw was the Sioux City Iowa one as a kid and I remember feeling nauseous. They showed it on the news. I recall just not being able to comprehend what I was seeing.

Never cared for real life gore (faces of death type stuff) but I love horror movies. Especially Campy B horror movies.

Fast forward to PPL training and I start studying what causes crashes.
I watched the fairchild B-52 video and felt sick. I stopped it before it went in and after a few min, morbid curiosity kicked in and I watched it. I felt like I was going to throw up. I had a REALLY hard time seeing stuff like that.

Cut to 2012 and PPL training and I start reading NTSB reports, then reading ATC recordings, then LISTENING to them (Lots of last words) and then video after video of planes crashing.

I had this weird epiphany a few months ago when I watched the wing walker girl sitting on the inverted biplane doing the low pass that crashed and I remember thinking I just watched a video of a woman and her pilot die and it didn't phase me one little bit. I rewound and FF 10 times trying to determine if it was stall, engine issue, bad input and never got the shock of the human factor.

Have others experienced this? Did/Do you dig into these crashes (reports, recordings, videos)? Is it bad that I am not startled by this stuff anymore?

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this desensitization to horrific accidents as a result of pulling back the covers on the bad parts of aviation.

I am still bothered by the news of any crash but sort of disappointed in myself that it doesn't shake me at my core actually seeing / hearing it anymore.
 
You might want to see someone, you know, professionally. You're sick in the head. You might also want to post your question on the dearGodamIgoingtohell.com board.:yes:

joking of course.
 
Upon further reflection, I think it depends on the situation whether or not it bothers me. If it's an aerobatic pilot going down while pushing the envelope, or even a recreational pilot just doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing and buys the farm, I tend to be less bothered by the morbidity aspect. If it's someone who makes a mistake or encounters a failure of some kind and gets killed and/or gets someone else killed while just out enjoying a nice flight and not doing anything dangerous, then it really bothers me, especially if there's family aboard. However, I'm always bothered by gore. I never want to see the deceased in aftermath of an accident/incident regardless of what led up to it. Heck, I didn't enjoy seeing a dead Bin Laden, but I'm glad his a** is grass.
 
Yes. That is normal. You continuously exposed yourself to the aversive stimuli (video,audio,pictures) in a somewhat flooding/systematic approach and now are desensitized to it. I have seen numerous homicides, suicides, fatal collisions, assaults, some things I couldn't even try to make up, each one got a little better to handle to the point where I feel I am no longer bothered. Comes with the territory.

Maybe you would enjoy a career as a FAA Investigator or NTSB.
 
During the Viet Nam war I was watching the news when a US journalist was made to lay on the ground and was shot in the head by local police who did not know the camera man was just yards away filming. That effected me for a very long time.

Today, seeing someone shot just doesn't get to me like that first incident. Yes, we all can become conditioned to horrific events.
 
I think we, as a society in whole, have become more sensitized to such things...if for no other reason than with iPhones and go pro cameras everywhere, catastrophes are now more likely to be filmed live and viewed and shared on YouTube.

I also think looking at crash videos with a technical eye allows you to separate the emotional trauma from the mechanics of the crash.
 
I think the sympathy for pilots we didn't know is over dramatic silliness. Death is sad for family and friends but that goes no matter the means of demise.
 
Watching Sioux City and reading about it still gets to me, as do some GA crashes. But most don't, especially when the pilot was being an idiot.

It's normal.
 
In military aviation you get used to it. We used to get exposed to uncensored videos and pictures that aren't released to the public. Some of it's pretty painful to watch, especially when you personally know the people involved. You watch these presentations on safety stand down days to get better understanding on what happened. It's not just watching one crash video after another. You dissect each one and try and learn from what happened. No one enjoys seeing accidents but it still serves a purpose if only one pilot learns from it and prevents an accident in the future.

Of course in my current job of EMS I get exposed to more unpleasant sights and smells than I ever did in the military. You can't shield yourself from this when they're lying 2 ft to your left in the cockpit. I don't really look at it as being desensitized but more as being a professional. Someone is hurt, they need help, I just need to fill my part in the puzzle and get them to the hospital ASAP.
 
Ignorance is bliss.

I wish I've never had to see some of the stuff I've seen over the years.
 
I always see the video, then look for the NTSB report, then try and locate the ATC recordings and get a whole picture. Basically get as much info as possible. Inevitably, I start mentally putting myself in the shoes of those involved and start wondering what they were seeing, thinking, etc.

Somewhere during my training, I found airdisaster.com

That site used to get to me. now, not so much
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/airdisaster.com
 
Every time I see a plane crash on the news while watching TV with my whole family, I just hope my mother will not make a comment either now or later on about how she doesn't want me to learn to fly, especially hopefully soloing one day, because she would think flying is dangerous.

Usually, these days I am desensitized to plane crashes when it is talked about in the news, but before I think I was more horrified of it. Don't get me wrong, I still am sad when a plane crashes and everyone dies, but it is not as much as before. Actually, it bothers me how sometimes aviation gets a bad press on a plane crash story in the news. Why isn't there more good press about aviation?

I remember watching CNN's Sole Survivor documentary about a year ago, and going through the film especially the drama of a plane crash was for some reason painful to watch and hear. I just feel sad and almost like I am going to cry after the film was over. And who wouldn't be after hearing these sole survivors tell their stories and horrific details of the plane crash?
 
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I like watching the Air Crash Investigation episodes. I learn as much as I can from them and the NTSB reports.

Some of the situations are terrible, others are easily avoidable. A bit of good flying skills and some common sense are really all you need. A lot of pilots seem to be missing one, or both.
 
Somehow I've never been emotionally attached to seeing airplane accidents. I don't know why. Even when I was an eyewitness, I made myself watch the whole thing. I guess it's my way of respecting the pilot/passengers in an odd way. I figure I owe it to them to at least use their experience as a lesson to myself to learn something from the accident that might keep me from making the same mistake.
 
Years ago a KC 97 lost a prop blade, penetrated the fuselage, went into a flat spin and crashed about 60 miles from FAFB. 2 bus loads of us went to the scene, an alfalfa field where we joined hands and walked the field where it crashed and burned. 10 were on board which included an evaluation crew. The bodies were mostly intact but burned beyond recognition. Very sobering experience . Farmer was yelling about who was going to pay for " his crop damage" . We did what was ordered, returned to base.
 
I think it is less about being desensitized and more about you possessing a greater knowledge about risk and flight safety. The latter allows you to be more accommodating of those unfortunate events.
 
N918KT said:
Every time I see a plane crash on the news while watching TV with my whole family, I just hope my mother will not make a comment either now or later on about how she doesn't want me to learn to fly, especially hopefully soloing one day, because she would think flying is dangerous.
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Mother's have an internal programming that dates back millions of years to protect their young from dangerous things. It's an important evolutionary function. When I took my first job in the aviation industry (before I was a pilot), my mom said not to tell her if I started flying lessons. I figured after my first solo I had to tell her. She's since been fooled into thinking I know what I'm doing, and if she hasn't stopped worrying, she at least has been kind enough to keep it to herself.
 
My mom is not crazy about dad and I flying but she puts on a good front and she goes up with us once in awhile.

My family does dinner every Sunday evening.

Last week plane was just out of first annual and dad and I were discussing squawks.
Fouled plugs, Mags, timing, etc. I don't really recall. It wasn't a ton of stuff.

Dad says "Let me know when you are available to go up with me and check it out"
Mom: "Why do you need him to check it"
Dad: "If something goes wrong, I want both of us to be in the plane."
I was fighting back laughter at his particular phrasing.

I could see my mom's wheels spinning and she tried to figure out what he meant. Of course he was saying He wanted 2 pilots in the plane just for an extra set of eyes.

Mom who like I said is usually good at not showing concern for this hobby blurts out "Why cant your A&P fly it the first time? He is the one messing with everything."
 
Continue to be sickened and outraged by the horrors and atrocities of life. Once you become desensitized you loose your humanity
 
I'm pretty hardened to things so no I don't get too upset by it. The one thing that bugs me a little is when I read about someone encountering what is basically my worst fear... knowing you're going to die and being completely helpless to prevent that outcome.

Those accidents where the pilot/crew knew they were doomed for a significant period before it actually happened and couldn't do anything about it.... that's just terrifying.
 
cowman said:
I'm pretty hardened to things so no I don't get too upset by it. The one thing that bugs me a little is when I read about someone encountering what is basically my worst fear... knowing you're going to die and being completely helpless to prevent that outcome.

Those accidents where the pilot/crew knew they were doomed for a significant period before it actually happened and couldn't do anything about it.... that's just terrifying.
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The one crash where they couldn't get up and they were headed for an overpass. Copilot says "We're not going to make it" Pilot just replies "I know"

Or the one with the jammed jackscrew.

ugh
 
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