Article on Page 3 of today’s Australian about the Qantas A380 drama reminded me of the old days when the captain on Trans-Tasman flights would routinely come through the cabin to ask if anyone was interested to come and have a look on the flight deck.
The main first impression was one of sheer boredom as apart from take-off and landing the aircraft pretty much seemed to fly itself. I asked if it was always like this and the captain replied. “99% of the time the other 1%when something goes wrong is high drama.” He said that one of the key elements of their training was learning NOT to react. An aircraft is such a complex system the first response to an emergency was (in those days) to get out the manual which was carefully designed to provide the quickest route to a solution to any problem.
Basically the same response that life teaches us. In an emergency STOP AND THINK! Reacting often makes things worse.