Watch Insight’s episode Fateful Decisions on.
Gerry Geltch was in the passenger seat of a twin-engine plane when both engines conked out.
The pilot froze and it quickly became a life-or-death situation.
A pilot himself, with 34 years of flying experience, Gerry says a ‘switch’ went off in his head.
“The airplane stalled and began falling out of the sky at 250 feet,” Gerry told Insight.
“I just took over and grabbed the controls and did everything I could to minimise impact.”
He credits his training to being able to instantly take control of the plane, but also his response to being in ‘fight or flight’ mode.
“Do I fight or do I flight? I don’t fly it, I just fight,” he said.
“I just go into this bloody survival mode and this fight mode. And to date, I’ve been lucky to make the right decisions in the most extreme situations (Gerry has been in three plane crashes, two racing car accidents, motorbike crashes and been attacked by a shark) to keep me alive to where I’m today. Absolutely.”
The plane crash-landed and Gerry suffered serious facial and spinal injuries. The pilot was also badly injured.
But it could have been far worse.
“If I hadn’t made that decision, we’d both be dead,” Gerry said.
How do we make life-altering decisions?
Not everyone likes making big decisions alone.
Celine Eigner was raised Sikh and says her upbringing opened her mind to seeking advice from those in her community, including around decision-making.
But when her life is at a crossroads, she usually relies on her intuition.
“It can be hard and a bit daunting to make decisions. I tend to turn a lot inward and rely on my intuition or whatever feels right,” Celine told Insight.
She says looking outward has its advantages, but not all decision advice is equal, especially when consulting with family members or loved ones before taking a leap of faith.
Celine consulted the help of a psychic when faced with a major career decision. Source: SBS
“When you’re asking people around you for any sort of advice, a lot of the time people tend to have bias when they know you.
“And they speak from their own experiences about what they believe that might be best for you.”
After being offered an exciting career opportunity, Celine was faced with making a life-altering decision — take a new job, or focus on writing her book.
“My first reaction was, this sounds exciting … it’s a promotion … there’s more money involved,” Celine said.
“I felt like taking that opportunity however, it could detract from what I was trying to do at the time, which was to finish my book.”
She says her gut was telling her to turn the job down, but she wanted to know for sure.
So this time, she consulted a psychic who told her a spirit had been trying to pull her into this role for some time. He said the spirit wanted her to take the job.
Joel Pearson is a National Health and Medical Research Council fellow and professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of New South Wales. Source: SBS
Are we really in control of the decisions we make?
Cognitive neuroscientist Joel Pearson has researched the decision-making process.
He says that while most like to think that we have control over our decisions, his research suggests otherwise.
“Our decisions might be more automatic and unconscious than we think,” he told Insight.
“But when we take ownership over our decisions, it can lead to greater satisfaction.
“Research that was done in mice and other animals, suggests that when we voluntarily choose certain things like exercise, the health benefits are far greater compared to being forced to do the same amount of exercise.
“Physically, it’s the same, but when the decision was forced — there was a lot of stress involved.”
Despite suffering major injuries to his face after a crash landing, as soon as he completed his recovery he wanted to get back to flying. Source: SBS
He says externalising our decisions can offer greater insight — as humans are social beings, talking to people before making a life-altering decision can give different and new perspectives.
He says it when it comes to consulting others, such as psychics, it should come with a caveat.
“I would also add, there is a sort of responsibility there,” he said.
“If people are going to take anything you say very strongly, then there is a responsibility there that’s worth thinking about.”
For Celine, the outcome was ultimately positive, despite it being a stressful time in her life.
She accepted the role and also completed her book ahead of schedule.
Taking back control
For Gerry, owning his decisions is key.
“I just believe in myself. If I’ve made the right decision, I pat myself in the back. If I made the wrong decision, I belt myself. But it’s my decision, my decision only.”
After that fateful flight, he spent a week in intensive care and endured a gruelling 14-month recovery. Yet the first thing he did when he got home from hospital was to get to the airport.
“I threw one of my senior pilots in the co-pilot seat and got up and took the aeroplane for a fly, straight away just to get that monkey off my back.
“When we got to 500 feet, I cut the engine to do a forced landing. I got back on the runway just to say to myself — right it’s done and I can move on now.”
