Trust and listen to Gut feelings or instincts

by James MAKOP

People have instincts or premonitions about events or people which, in many cases, have occurred in the future. In my case, a few events have unfolded over the years which convinced me that one shouldn’t underestimate such gut feelings.

In 1989 as a brand new copilot on Air Niugini Fokker-28 aeroplane, I flew with an expatriate captain during the last days of scheduled service to war-torn Bougainville. It was the first time we flew together. It was also the last time. 

The experience left me troubled. When we returned to base in Moresby, I spoke to the head of flight crew scheduling. I told him never to roster me for flights with the said captain again.

I said that day the captain was going to kill someone one day unless he left flying and did something else in life. Some 20+years later he was the captain of the Airlines PNG Dash-8 aircraft which crashed in Madang, killing the majority of passengers onboard. To my recollection, the aircraft was perfectly serviceable. What transpired was a matter determined by an expert investigation. In my view, what I said might happen did happen. 

As a captain, I flew with an expatriate copilot more than a few times. He was a very nice guy but he just never cut the mustard in Aviation. No matter how many times I tried to help him when we flew together, he just didn’t have it. Again I said the pilot would be better off leaving the aviation profession. He did leave Air Niugini but sadly a few years later, he crashed and died in Western Australia flying a Metro liner aircraft. 

Further back as a student in 1982 in UPNG, I chanced to meet Peter O’Neill. He was in the company of Oscar Yamuna in front of the students dining hall. We greeted and exchanged a few pleasantries. That was the first time I met and the last time I ever spoke to O’Neill. 

My gut instincts at the time didn’t react well. There was something about the man that did not sit well with me back then. There was something furtive about him, something just not right, something sinister. Many years later and the real substance of the man has surfaced. 

It is said the eyes of a person is the window to his/her soul. One’s ability to open up to another very much depends on how you gauge that person and what your gut feeling or instinct tells you.
And if in your formative years you have harboured instincts of depravity, greed, and capacity for pathological behaviour, there is no way those traits can be erased. The only cure is to ensure that such people are not entrusted with an immense power which affects lives of millions. 

It behoves our political leaders to recognize such persons and take mitigating steps to ensure that those people are removed from power so that our democracy may be preserved.