Yet must airplane mechanics never fly a plane and most pilots
never work on them. If it were true, you'd think the crossover
skills would be much more important with airplanes where the
risk is so great.

James Sweet wrote:

Though on the same note, I would argue that the best mechanics are very
familiar with driving a car, and the best drivers are very familiar with
the mechanical workings of a car. It helps a great deal to know what one
is actually doing when manipulating the controls of a car, and at the
same time it's much easier to track down many types of car problems if
one is an experienced driver.