The Miracles of Tragedy
It has been a while since I made any posts. This post is brought on by a few factors. I am now retired. Yes, age 65 came up on me fast. Now there is nothing I can do to get back into the flight deck with an airline. Do I miss flying? Absolutely. But my […]
CBS This Morning Show
I was contacted by the media again today. There is a study that is being released regarding pilots and depression. It seems whenever there is news regarding this topic the media wants to talk with me. I have been idle on my blog for several months now. Part of me wants to not be known by […]
Your Focus Needs More Focus!
Overcoming the loss of a child is impossible. The void that is created will always exist. People do their best to be caring and understanding. However, the only people who understand are those who have lost a child themselves. I flew with a First Officer a couple of weeks ago who told me he understood my […]
Overcoming Gravity
From the beginning of history people have looked skyward and watched birds fly. Throughout most of history the ability for man to overcome gravity was a mystery. However, today air travel is taken for granted. All someone needs to do is log on to the Internet, go to a travel or airline website and book […]
Have A Smooth Flight
Have a good flight. Have a smooth flight. Have a safe flight. These are all terms people use when talking to someone departing on a trip by air. How many times have we either heard these terms or said them ourselves? As a pilot, any flight without incident is a safe flight. Also, any flight […]
Dr. Phil and Checklists
For those of you who read my last post you may remember that I gave a name to the feelings that following me after the death of my daughter. I namd this feeling simply to make it easier to write about and refer to those feelings. I named the feeling Phil and nicknamed it Dr. […]
Dr. Phil
In just a few days it will be one year that daughter, Amy, lost her battle to cancer. I have had ups and downs with my feelings over the past year. As most people can imagine I have had some sad days. I knew that Amy’s time was limited when she was diagnosed with cancer. […]
Life Stalls
It has been just over six months since my daughter’s death. Next month is her birthday. I think about her everyday. I remember her telling me her biggest fear of dying was that she would be forgotten. I hope she knows that I think about her regularly. I have been in somewhat of a funk […]
Feeling Safe to Self Report
There has been a tremendous amount of news coverage on the Germanwings tragedy. Some of the news has focused on pilots who suffer from depression. I have had numerous news outlets contact me asking me to comment on this tragedy. Some of these requests come from news shows that would use this tragedy to sensationalize […]
Lubitz, Pure Evil
Due to the latest tragedy with GermanWings I have been getting several requests for interviews from media outlets all around the world. Currently, investigators are looking at the possibility that Andreas Lubitz, the pilot that flew the GermanWings aircraft into the ground, suffered from a mental illness. The medical facility that treated Lubitz denies he was being treated for […]