A psychiatric study was made of 46 naval aviators who had demonstrated their mastery of techniques of attack carrier aviation but became unable to continue flying high-performance aircraft. In only a small number of cases was an anxiety reaction or a phobic reaction to flight uncovered. The authors feel that the diagnosis of "adult situational reaction" is applicable to most of these flyers who fail because it emphasizes the difficulty of their task and the absence of serious underlying personality defects.Abstract Teaser