Some more food for thought

He picked up the blue NATOPs manual lying on the podium and held it up. “This book is the Bible. The engineers that built this plane and the test pilots that wrung it out put their hearts and souls into the book – for you. Telling you everything they knew. And the process didn’t stop there – as new things are learned about the plane this book is continually updated. It’s a living document. You should know every word in it. That is the best insurance you can get this on this side of hell.
“But the book doesn’t cover everything. Sooner or later you are going to run into something that isn’t covered in the book. Whether you survive the experience will be determined by you skill, your experience, and your luck.
“There’s been a lot of mumbling around here the last twenty-four hours about luck. Well, there is no such thing. You can’t feel it, taste it, smell it, touch it, wear it, fuck it, or eat it. It doesn’t exist!
“This thing we call luck is merely professionalism and attention to detail, it’s your awareness of everything that is going on around you, it’s how well you know and understand your airplane and your own limitations. We make our own luck. Each of us. None of us is Superman. Luck is the sum total of your abilities as an aviator. If you think your luck is running low, you’d better get busy and make some more. Work harder. Pay more attention. Study your NATOPs more. Do better preflights.
“A wise man once said, ‘Fortune favors the well prepared.’ He was right.
“Rory Smith is not with us here tonight because he didn’t eject when he should have. Hank Davis is alive because he did.
“We’re going to miss Rory. But every man here had better resolve to learn something from his death. If we do, he didn’t die for nothing. Think about it.”

Stephen Coonts, The Intruders