Imagine being told minutes after boarding a plane that “the engine has stalled and the landing gear is not functioning. The pilot is going to attempt to ditch in the ocean. Please prepare yourself” …

This happened to a group of 10 soldiers who boarded a plane at Fort Hunter Liggett military in the 1960s. They thought it was a routine training mission not a study to examine behavioural degradation under psychological stress - specifically, the stress of imminent death. Talk about bad luck!

Not only were they told they’re about to die, the air hostess insisted on making them fill out paperwork (and not just any – insurance forms!) telling them that if they were all going to die, the army wanted to make sure it was covered for the loss (In actual fact,  measuring performance under pressure).

After the last soldier completed his form and they all steeled themselves for the crash, the pilot turned the plane around - "Just kidding about that emergency, folks!" - and landed safely at the airfield.

The study showed that people filling out forms while seconds away from certain death make a few spelling and concord mistakes... (No way!)

Source: New Scientist