This Is Your Brain On Stress

Losing your cool when the unexpected happens can have dire results. But you can train your mind to handle chaos.

- Steve Casner

ON JANUARY 15, 2009, the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 experienced a never-in-a-lifetime event.

Less than two minutes after takeoff, some Canada geese found their way into the airplane’s two engines and brought them to a grinding halt. Over the next three and a half minutes, the crew managed to identify the problem, decide what to do about it, and execute what a former National Transportation Safety Board member called “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” How did the crew begin this historic performance? By uttering the same two words that many of us come up with in a crisis: “Oh crap.” Actually, the phrase was a bit more profane, but you get the idea.