In aviation, it is known that altitude is your friend. The higher above the ground you’re flying, the more time the pilot has to deal with in flight emergencies.
You can however, fly too high. Every aircraft has a maximum cruising altitude.
The higher up you go, the thinner the air gets.
Flying close to this altitude is dangerous. There is a known set a parameters called “coffin corner “.
As you gain altitude, the thin air increases stall speed, the engines must produce enough thrust to keep the forward velocity at speeds to maintain airflow over the wings to maintain lift.
The control surfaces become less responsive due to the decreased density of the air. You get to a point where velocity and stall speed meet.
The plane becomes uncontrollable and if appropriate action isn’t taken, unrecoverable.
Like that example above, addiction is no different. You start out confident that everything will run smoothly, your flight uneventful.
Over time, you haven’t been watching that altimeter, but you keep adding power to the already hard working engines.
That is the continuation of using, picking up that next drink. “Fuck it” you think. “I’ve got it under control “.
This complacency continues. At anytime the link can be broken to the chain of events that lead to disaster.
But then you notice it’s hard to maintain heading. The controls are almost unresponsive. You check and recheck, none of the instruments or the flight director are in agreement.
You continue in disbelief “What is happening?!” You think frantically.
It is at this time the engines flame out. Warning tones filling the cockpit, lights flashing on the panel. You attempt a restart to no avail. Compressor failure, and you’re falling from the sky.
All hope is still not lost. The air is getting thicker as the plane losses altitude.
You pray harder than you’ve ever prayed before.
You revert back to the skills you’ve been taught in flight school.
Now it’s recovery or die!
Hopefully you may become aware because unfortunately, many stayed stuck in that coffin corner only to meet with a terrible end.
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