As a bush pilot in Alaska - I can attest that one of the most difficult
decisions a pilot can make is simply NOT to make the trip - OR possibly,
to do a 180 degree turn and go back. Prestige, the boss, some young
up-and-coming hotshot pilot, something - always pushing to go. Even the
customers. Somehow, over the years of flying the bush, I managed to make
most of the right choices. I've bent a few airplanes, but I'm still here
- but many of my fellow flyers are not, their bodies crumpled in the
wreckage somewhere on a mountain, on the tundra, in a lake. Many failed
to make the safe decision, pushed by whatever drives one to take those
chances, while some were victims of other things. But the point is -
weigh carefully just how really important a trip is, against the
possible consequences that may follow. Some trips just shouldn't be made.

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 9/20/2011 2:16 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> Last line ........there are professional mountaineers that have turned
> back
> 400 meters from a 8,000 meter summit, and they were smart, and proud, to
> have made that more conservative safer decision.