The Effect of Energy Drink Consumption on Collegiate Flight Students’ Pilot Skills in a Simulated Flight Environment

Over the last decade, energy drinks have become ubiquitous on college campuses. The global market for these drinks exceeds billions of dollars a year and new ‘energy’ products are progressively marketed and introduced annually. Outside of college student populations, the effects of energy drinks have been examined extensively. However, among college students, limited energy drink research has been conducted, and this study was the first to examine the effects of energy drinks among collegiate flight students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of energy drink consumption on collegiate flight students’ pilot skills in simulated flight. Thirty collegiate flight students participated in two distinct simulated flight sessions after consuming a 16-ounce energy drink and a 16-ounce placebo. After students consumed each drink, the researchers evaluated pilot skills in three distinct areas; straight and level flight, complex turns, and in-flight emergencies. Even though statistical analysis on some of the flight session data failed to disprove the null hypothesis (H0): The consumption of energy drinks has no significant effect on collegiate flight students’ pilot skills, the results of this investigative study raise new questions and concerns regarding collegiate student pilots and provide a springboard for future research projects.