Piloting a plane and rock climbing are akin?

It came to somewhat of a surprise when I came across BA's latest share, which compared piloting to free climbing. While I must admit, I have never before considered the comparisons other than both activities being based high up in the air, I would argue as someone who does both activities, that piloting is actually more akin to sport (climbing and clipping your rope into bolts already drilled into the rock), or traditional climbing (climbing with ropes and you put in the safety bolts as you climb).  I am especially drawn by the unfair reputation that rock climbing has with those who do not partake in the sport itself.  We as the majority in the community know that rock climbing is a risky sport, but we calculate our risks.  If as a beginner, you decide to try rock climbing, you will find that every climbing facility in the world will not just admit you into their arena, they will carry out due diligence to ensure you know what you are doing before setting you loose.  You will not be short in advice if you asked a fellow climber, or the CAA in the aviation world, nor would there be a shortage in a scolding if as a climber you put another climbers life at risk.  This would be the equivalent to an air disaster and this news being spread across the world scrutinising this incident.        

While the article begins that for both activities time is of an essence, really this is just looking at the concluding part of each activity. A climb or flight would only take place if after all other checks, planning and risk assessments have been made and deemed ok to go ahead. Only then does a climb have to be completed within an allotted time, perhaps before night fall unless you are prepared for it. With a flight, it is only when an aircraft has taken off does arriving at the destination in a timely matter then come into play. And here you begin to spot the similarities.

Both activities have checks in place to minimise risk. One, planning your route. Two, checking the weather. Three, checking your equipment. Four, making sure you have the correct staff, or climber, with the ability and skill to carry out the activity required.  After this, the similarity of piloting and free climbing ends, and should be replaced with traditional (or sport) climbing instead.

Free climbing is climbing up a rock face without the use of ropes or outside support. Therefore you are only relying on your equipment, what you have prepared, and judgement. For a free climber your equipment are your arms and legs, and anything that is connected to them i.e. fingers and climbing shoes. For an aircraft, the equivalent of this would be an electronic free aircraft with no support. That would mean no TCAS (radar collisin avoidance system), no auto pilot, no air traffic control (support tower), no monitors and most certainly no co pilot. The individual pilot would need to rely solely on their skill, what they have prepared, and basic equipment; the aircraft.

In comparison, traditional climbing comes with rope and your support team. The rope of course being the electronic systems in jumbo jets, and the support team being your mechanics, ground staff, air traffic control, co pilot etc. And both are about team work as you cannot trad climb without a belayer ( or co pilot) i.e. the other person holding onto the other end of the rope as you climb.  So it's important that you fully trust your teammates, and that he/she can carry out their job to a high standard.  That they act responsibly, and that they fully understand the gravity of this responsibility; just like the expectations demanded of a pilot, co pilot and surrounding support staff, as we all have at least one life in our hands.

Like many outdoor activities, trad climbing also has it's own code of conduct, some of which lists that when you are finished with your climb, all bolts and bits that you have placed while climbing is then removed to preserve the climbing wall for other climbers. This includes taking your rubbish home!  The airlines equivalent of this is to reduce carbon footprints; to minimise pollution, recycle, and preserve future air channels for use by another aircraft.  

In the early days of commerical flights, a practise called "see and be seen" was emphasised, this is where a pilot is responsible for avoiding other traffic by spotting them in the same airspace as you are flying as a lot of airspace was not 'controlled' back in the early days.  Over time there has been recognition, particularly after the Grand Canyon air collison in the fifties that woke up the world to the dangers of increasing air traffic, that pilots needed further aids to help them spot imminent dangers such as other aircrafts, and reduce the risk of flying.  While free climbing cannot be regulated to such an extent due to it is the decision of an individual whether they would like to free climb or not, there is a growing recognition and questioning by the climbinClif Bar withdrawing their sponsorship of several free climbers.          

g community whether taking such an extreme risk (free climbing) should be so widely promoted.  This was highlighted with

So while I agree both piloting and rock climbing are very similar, even the technical jargon of both are mumble jumble to outsiders, different forms of climbing equate to the range of aircrafts, they can be very different.