Unexpected emergency situations in the aviation realm (e.g., rejected takeoffs) demand an immediate response from the pilot in order to avoid severe consequences. Commercial pilots receive extensive training on emergency maneuvers in simulators; however, on rare occasions pilots experience an unexpected event and perform poorly. We completed a series of studies aimed at investigating the effects of expectancy on performance for rejected takeoffs. We found that undergraduate students had a significant degradation in performance for unexpected rejected takeoffs. These results have implications for pilots who experience unexpected events on the line.
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