I saw this excerpt from a book on twitter today, written by a test pilot:
It reminded me of a different book written by the Australian Group Captain Doug Edwards many years ago. He wanted to explore the reasons why high-performing airmen like military display pilots sometimes died in accidents they could have escaped from. Why didn't they eject?
His conclusion was a product of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs (read about it in Wikipedia). This suggests that humans may fear loss of status and self-esteem just as much as they fear death. High performers can become 'addicted' to their status and will do just about anything to preserve it, struggling to rescue a hopeless situation beyond the point from which they can escape.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
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