Stress Training Enhances Pilot Performance During a Stressful Flying Task

Abstract

This study investigated whether stress training introduced during the acquisition of simulator-based flight skills enhances pilot performance during subsequent stressful flight operations in an actual aircraft. Thirty participants with no previous flying experience were assigned either to a stress-trained treatment group or a control group. Stress training consisted of pairing skill acquisition in a flight simulator with stress coping mechanisms in the presence of a cold pressor. Control participants received identical skill acquisition training but without stress training. Performance was then compared between groups during flight in a Piper Archer aircraft. Participants who received flight simulator stress training demonstrated better performance in a stressful flying task than those in the control group. The results of this study indicate that stress training during the acquisition of flight skills may enhance pilot performance in stressful operational flight and therefore, might mitigate the contribution of pilot stress to aircraft mishaps.