What to do from here...

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Nuwn123

Filing Flight Plan
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Aug 27, 2022
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Nuwner
Hey all, just wondering what there is to do moving forward...

I failed PPL, and a stage check in private. Instrument was fine. In commercial, I failed a stage check, and had a taxiing incident where I ran into a light pole and scraped paint on the end of a 172 wing. Also got into a car accident in commercial. To make matters worse, the FSDO guy I “have” to take my ride with has a 40% pass rate.

I’m doing all of this while I’m a demanding degree external from aviation, which might be running me thin and a cause of some of this mess.

  1. How bad does this all look for the airlines?
  2. If I stay clean moving forward will I still be a competitive airlines applicant once things pick up again?
 
Why do you "have to" take a check ride with the FSDO guy?

I do not understand the "car accident in commercial". You had an accident while working on your Commercial Airplane Certificate, or you were driving on a CDL and had an accident?

Do you think the "demanding degree" program is distracting from your flying?
Perhaps there is too much on your plate and it's time to slow down.
 
BillTIZ said:
Why do you "have to" take a check ride with the FSDO guy?

I do not understand the "car accident in commercial". You had an accident while working on your Commercial Airplane Certificate, or you were driving on a CDL and had an accident?

Do you think the "demanding degree" program is distracting from your flying?
Perhaps there is too much on your plate and it's time to slow down.
Click to expand...
I have to take a commercial ride with the FSDO guy because our school is seeking in house authority for 141 end of course rides, and to gain that approval, the FSDO needs to get 10 checkride passes on the first attempt from our school, but it turns out the FSDO guy is nearly impossible to pass with on the first attempt.

I got into a car accident while working on my commercial license. I heard car accidents show up on airline applications, so I figured id mention that. non-cdl.
 
Nuwn123 said:
I have to take a commercial ride with the FSDO guy because our school is seeking in house authority for 141 end of course rides, and to gain that approval, the FSDO needs to get 10 checkride passes on the first attempt from our school, but it turns out the FSDO guy is nearly impossible to pass with on the first attempt.
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Study hard, know the ACS, regs, AIM, POH and supplements inside-out, take multiple practice orals with different instructors, and practice your maneuvers until you can do them in your sleep.

I used to know a guy who broke an inspector’s 100% bust rate on first-time CFI rides. It’s all about the willingness to prepare.
 
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Stage check is a school thing. Won't show up. Car accident? Highly unlikely to matter.

Need to slow down. Figuratively and literally
 
Not everyone is cut out for this job.
 
Nuwn123 said:
I have to take a commercial ride with the FSDO guy because our school is seeking in house authority for 141 end of course rides, and to gain that approval, the FSDO needs to get 10 checkride passes on the first attempt from our school...
Click to expand...
So, uh, are they holding a gun to your head to take that checkride? If not, find another instructor and another DPE, OR study and word hard enough to be in the 40%.
 
Nuwn123 said:
Hey all, just wondering what there is to do moving forward...

I failed PPL, and a stage check in private. Instrument was fine. In commercial, I failed a stage check, and had a taxiing incident where I ran into a light pole and scraped paint on the end of a 172 wing. Also got into a car accident in commercial. To make matters worse, the FSDO guy I “have” to take my ride with has a 40% pass rate.

I’m doing all of this while I’m a demanding degree external from aviation, which might be running me thin and a cause of some of this mess.

  1. How bad does this all look for the airlines?
  2. If I stay clean moving forward will I still be a competitive airlines applicant once things pick up again?
Click to expand...

I think you are being sold BS on the 40% pass rate at the FSDO unless your school is a really bad school. If this is were true, your school won’t get self examining authority and risks losing their 141 certificate.
 
It’s your checkride.
Get the signature, do what you want.
Why not strive to be in the 40%? Man, that would be something to talk about at an interview.
 
Why would your school pressure you to take a check ride if they think you could fail.
 
Let’s put some structure to this

Nuwn123 said:
..I failed PPL and had a taxiing incident where I ran into a light pole and scraped paint on the end of a 172 wing.
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What did you learn from those experiences? You’ll probably be asked that question at an interview.

Nuwn123 said:

  1. [1]How bad does this all look for the airlines?
    [2]If I stay clean moving forward will I still be a competitive airlines applicant once things pick up again?
Click to expand...
1. Depends on the hiring environment when you meet the min req’s to apply.

2. See #1; keep in mind your record can only get worse from here. Both in school and in the plane. Take a break from one or the other and revisit when you have the ability to focus on one or the other. Superman you are not.
 
Is your demanding degree aviation or something else? If not, you may have to choose a career path sooner rather than later. If it is aviation, it should be complementing your performance, not hindering it. Some people can accelerate through a collegiate or ATP-like aviation program, others can't. Doesn't mean some that can't is a bad pilot, people just learn and focus their attention differently.

The car accident is not an issue to airlines or anyone. With that said, airline apps often ask what moving violations (tickets) you have had. If you got a ticket for the accident, than you may have to disclose it but I doubt it would have any effect on hiring (caveat: unless you repeat it again and again.)

Some airline apps do ask about Part 141 stage check failures. I'm not certain they can actually legally see those records, but don't lie. As someone else mentioned, disclose it and explain how you learned from it and it made you a better pilot.

h any particular person. Call your FSDO and you may be able to schedule one for free with an FAA examiner (I find them to be just as relaxed if not more than some DPEs).

In summary to answer your two specific questions:

1) Slight impact, definitely not detrimental. Make up for it with maximizing your knowledge, experience, and skillset.
2) Yes.

FWIW, I have worked with more than a handful of pilots with significantly worse background issues and they got hired at majors with little issue, one as recently as 2 months ago. And a suggestion to all interested in airlines - scrub your internet presence clean as a whistle. I know multiple people fired (myself included) from regional and legacy airlines for slightly right-of-center political opinions or doing dumb stuff at work and posting it online despite perfect training records, knowledge, and skill.
 
Stage checks are just for your school, airlines won’t care.

A car accident, airlines won’t care.

Study hard and be fully prepared for the check ride with the FSDO.
 
Nuwn123 said:
Hey all, just wondering what there is to do moving forward...

I failed PPL, and a stage check in private. Instrument was fine. In commercial, I failed a stage check, and had a taxiing incident where I ran into a light pole and scraped paint on the end of a 172 wing. Also got into a car accident in commercial. To make matters worse, the FSDO guy I “have” to take my ride with has a 40% pass rate.

I’m doing all of this while I’m a demanding degree external from aviation, which might be running me thin and a cause of some of this mess.

  1. How bad does this all look for the airlines?
  2. If I stay clean moving forward will I still be a competitive airlines applicant once things pick up again?
Click to expand...

Slow. Down.

Both with the amount of things you're trying to accomplish at once, and with what you're doing in the cockpit. You should never be in a hurry in an airplane. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

Why did you fail the checkride? What did you learn from the experience? If you can answer those questions satisfactorily in an interview, you'll be fine. Stage checks don't show up anywhere, but you should self-assess what happened with those too in a brutally honest fashion. The only person I've seen put on the do-not-hire list because of prior training issues did not appear to have learned anything from the experience and laid all the blame on others in the interview.

Was the car accident your fault? Were you issued a citation? (Not THAT kind of Citation :rofl: I mean did they cite you for violating any traffic laws?)

As far as the checkride, prepare thoroughly as others have stated, but don't look at it as "There's a 60% chance I'll fail" because nerves don't make anyone's flying better. You have the opportunity to show off your skills, and if for some reason it doesn't work then there's a 60% chance you GET TO GO FLYING AGAIN. If you don't feel like you're in a position to show off how good your skills are, then you're not ready for the ride and you shouldn't let anyone push you into taking it. Having that positive attitude about checkrides is incredibly helpful - I failed my instrument ride on a simple slip-up and for a few minutes I thought about quitting flying until my instructor talked me down... But I was putting too much pressure on myself because I'd spent a lot of time getting ready for it. Now, I love checkrides, and that makes me better at them - One of our check airmen at my last job was the DO and the first time I flew a ride with him he said "That's the best checkride I've seen anyone fly." Strive for that, and if you aren't feeling like you can be that guy, then go practice until you can.

Also, you need to not care at all about what your checkride will or won't do for or to your flight school. That's their problem... But if they send you for a ride that's that important to them with a guy that really only has a 40% pass rate, it means they think you'll be part of the 40%.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Slow. Down.

Both with the amount of things you're trying to accomplish at once, and with what you're doing in the cockpit. You should never be in a hurry in an airplane. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

Why did you fail the checkride? What did you learn from the experience? If you can answer those questions satisfactorily in an interview, you'll be fine. Stage checks don't show up anywhere, but you should self-assess what happened with those too in a brutally honest fashion. The only person I've seen put on the do-not-hire list because of prior training issues did not appear to have learned anything from the experience and laid all the blame on others in the interview.

Was the car accident your fault? Were you issued a citation? (Not THAT kind of Citation :rofl: I mean did they cite you for violating any traffic laws?)

As far as the checkride, prepare thoroughly as others have stated, but don't look at it as "There's a 60% chance I'll fail" because nerves don't make anyone's flying better. You have the opportunity to show off your skills, and if for some reason it doesn't work then there's a 60% chance you GET TO GO FLYING AGAIN. If you don't feel like you're in a position to show off how good your skills are, then you're not ready for the ride and you shouldn't let anyone push you into taking it. Having that positive attitude about checkrides is incredibly helpful - I failed my instrument ride on a simple slip-up and for a few minutes I thought about quitting flying until my instructor talked me down... But I was putting too much pressure on myself because I'd spent a lot of time getting ready for it. Now, I love checkrides, and that makes me better at them - One of our check airmen at my last job was the DO and the first time I flew a ride with him he said "That's the best checkride I've seen anyone fly." Strive for that, and if you aren't feeling like you can be that guy, then go practice until you can.

Also, you need to not care at all about what your checkride will or won't do for or to your flight school. That's their problem... But if they send you for a ride that's that important to them with a guy that really only has a 40% pass rate, it means they think you'll be part of the 40%.
Click to expand...
“…slow is smooth and smooth is fast…”. I’ll resist the urge to start a rant about Controllers who talk to fast and end up with losing time because pilots say ‘say again’ or just don’t respond, (but I obviously already have), but yeah, ya gotsa just chill sometimes. A musical interlude….
 
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