WWYD if you discovered you were flying with a flat Earther?

[GypsyPilot]

Apparently we have one in my base. I’m torn between wanting to fly with him so I can tear apart his idiotic beliefs, or just calling out sick so I don’t have to deal with it (unfortunately I typically fly single departure lines around 11-13 days long, which is brutal if the other guy is a weirdo).

More importantly, at some point is this kind of behavior indicative of mental illness? Where do you draw the line between eccentricity and “Holy crap, I’m afraid to leave this person at the controls while I’m in the lav?” The FlyDubai incident has me thinking that some of these crazy people are not to be trusted.

I’m usually very open with listening to people and their weird ass thoughts, but I just don’t have patience for it anymore. I flew with an anti-vax guy several months ago, and I just straight up told him his opinions are ridiculous and based on nonsense since he wouldn’t take the initial hints and change the subject.

He stopped talking about it afterwards thank goodness, but I actually had to threaten some jackass a few years ago with calling out on the trip and getting Pro Stans involved if he wouldn’t shut up about his constant stream of BS conspiracy theories about COVID.

Fortunately these people are rare, but I do encounter 1-2 people a year that just seem absolutely nuts. I never once encountered someone like this at my old regional for whatever reason.

What are your strategies for dealing with crazy co-workers?

 

[arkavgal]

You sound a little paranoid Maybe you need a mental health assessment In all seriousness, a flat-earther pilot is quite the oxymoron. That's unfathomable. Is believing in a flat earth a sign of mental illness? Not by itself (I do this for a living). It does suggest some things about their psychological makeup, but I don't think you have anything to worry about from a competency or safety standpoint.

You're unlikely to change his perspective. I think trying to tear apart his world view would be wasted effort and create animosity in the cockpit - that's the last place you want to risk contention that could distract from flight duties or hinder communication.

Some personal disclosure. I have a close friend who is not religious but believes in reincarnation and thinks the moon is an artificial satellite created by aliens. Despite presenting evidence to contrary, his beliefs haven't changed. I focus on what we have in common.

People believe all sorts of weird things. I also think there's something very American (I'm not assuming your friend is American) about believing in conspiracy theories, both on the right and left - it's part of our collective psychological makeup. There's a deep mistrust of the government or any official authority or expert. These people can rarely be reasoned with. My trying to convince people with no knowledge of physics that the WTC didn't collapse due to a demolition has never been productive. It's a waste of my time and energy. They typically aren't mentally ill.

There's a third option. You could fly with him and not mention the topic. Just talk to him like a normal human being, focus on something you have in common, and get the job done. This should be a nothingburger.

 

[DropTank]

I’m torn between wanting to fly with him so I can tear apart his idiotic beliefs,

Waste of time.
It's not about the earth, it's about being contrarian.
He didn't logic himself into that belief and you cannot logic him out of it.

It's just a religion, but somehow stupider.

As long as they fly VIA SOP's and shut the hell up about that garbage, it's fine.

and STRICTLY enforce Sterile Cockpit below 10k'... or the whole flight.

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

I just played along and asked lots of questions. It was free entertainment. Happened at AS when I was an FO. He had photos on his iPad and everything.

He was also involved in this crazy lawsuit and had crashed a GA airplane. All with photos of course.

Good times. Just two legs over 2 days. So it was doable with a straight face.

 

[MikeD]

and thinks the moon is an artificial satellite created by aliens.

The aliens didn’t want us or the Soviets visiting the moon, and despite negotiations undertaken via first generation space communication link, the alien leadership would not budge in their disagreement with Articles 15, 19, 21 and 32 of the proposed Treaty of Voltron, which would have allowed for limited moon visitation and exploration by us, especially on the contested dark side of the moon. The US was in a touchy diplomatic situation already, as they respected the alien position on the matter, but unfortunately, President John F Kennedy had already prematurely made a promise to the American public that we would go to the moon. That promise could not be walked back, especially with our now being in a space race with the Soviet Union in that time of 1969. Hence why NASA was forced to film the moon landing of Apollo 11 inside the abandoned hanger 4 at Barstow-Daggett municipal airport, in which selected motion picture crews from Universal Studios were secretly hired to build the soundstage, Apollo craft mock-ups, and moon surface rendition for, in order for the filmed moon segments to look as accurate as possible.

Being the success that these film clips became for Apollo 11, it became the standard throughout the rest of the program all the way through Apollo 17, for filming moon surface footage. Unfortunately, following the landing of Apollo 17, the USA already had long known that it would be the last, and that Apollo’s 18-20 were already cancelled. Because of this, the small cadre of Universal Studios movie set craftsmen were no longer needed;. However, due to the heavy Opsec of this part of the Apollo program at this time in1969, it was seen as easier to simply dispose of this hired help, rather than keep them monitored and under an NDA. Hence why they were each served spiked drinks during a planned Friday party, killed off, and their bodies buried in a deep grave halfway between Desert Center and Blythe, CA, just south of I-10, while a burned out 15 passenger van was acquired in order to be used for the cover story that their work van has been hit by a Union Pacific freight train after getting stuck on tracks at a railroad crossing northeast of Niland, CA, where it was hit by the train and caught fire, completely burning out with no survivors or bodies.