Fight by Flight

What does someone think when he or she is an inch from death? The person is most likely afraid and is thinking what can I do to get out of this situation, then executes the proper actions needed to exit the situation. Pilots who engaged in air to air combat during WWI felt like this but were unable to do anything about the situation because they chose to put themselves in harms way to protect America. Another thing that happens it that ones mind goes automatically into "survival mode", also known as the flight or flight response.  It is as if the flight option was taken away and the  only option they had was fight. I am sure that when the pilots were engaging in air to air combat they were not thinking of anything else other than that exact present moment. During that time all they thought was what must I do to survive and how can I defeat the enemy.