The Startle Effect……Seconds That Change Everything

If you’ve ever driven on a country road at night, you know this moment.

An animal stands frozen in the headlights.

Eyes wide.

Body locked.

Time seems to slow….. but not in a helpful way.

That brief pause, those few seconds where nothing happens, can make all the difference.

Pilots experience the same phenomenon. It’s called the startle effect.

The startle effect occurs when something unexpected happens so suddenly that the brain momentarily freezes. There’s a delay, sometimes only seconds between recognizing a problem and responding to it.

In aviation, seconds matter.

A sudden engine failure.

A loud bang.

An alarm you weren’t expecting.

A control input that doesn’t produce the result you anticipated.

Your brain needs time to catch up with reality.

Even highly experienced pilots are not immune. One of the most well-known examples comes from Captain Sully Sullenberger who has spoken openly about the seconds it took to process the dual engine failure on US Airways Flight 1549 before landing on the Hudson River.

Those seconds weren’t hesitation, they were human.

What matters is what happens after the startle.

This is where training, mental rehearsal, and SRM become critical. If we’ve never visualised the scenario, never practised the response, or never thought through the priorities, those seconds stretch longer.

For single-pilot operators, the startle effect can be amplified. There’s no shared confirmation. No cross-check. No verbal challenge. This is where Single Pilot Resource management matters (SRM).

It’s just you and your ability to regain situational awareness quickly.

This is why we don’t just train procedures.

We train thinking.

We train ourselves to:

• Recognise when we are startled

• Take a breath

• Fly the aircraft first

• Prioritise what matters now, not everything at once

SRM isn’t about removing stress that’s impossible. It’s about managing it.

Because when the headlights appear, when the engine coughs, when the plan collapses around you, freezing is human.

Recovering is trained.

And the more we understand that, the safer we become, not just as pilots, but as decision-makers in high-pressure moments.