Checkride Failures

nkoenig

nkoenig

New Member
What happens if you fail a checkride during your training? (PPL INST COM ME etc)? Does it hurt your chances of getting hired. Has anyone here ever failed and still was able to get on with an airline etc? I ve never had a checkride yet but it seems like the pressure of not failing a ride to still have a successful career is very high. Maybe so high it causes you to make stupid mistakes and screw up the whole thing. Sorry for the rambling checkrides just make me very nervous just to think about them. Maybe after ive done one it wil put me at ease a little.
 
Nope. Don't give it another thought. Well, ya might think about like any other thing about you that makes a good impression.

Most, well, I can't say 'most', I'm not sure, but a lot of us busted a checkride or two on the way.

In fact, a common view is that it prepares you for what is most likely gonna happen at some point. You learn to profit from your mistakes - whatever they were - fair or unfair - and move on.

It's all good.
 
well I havent failed any to date but Im sure i might fail one of the instructor ratings but yeah dosent really affect you much
 
In aviation it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN. If it's not an FAA checkride, the odds are good that you'll have a re-current or other training event that falls on a bad day. When you take that many "checkrides," Murphy is bound to get you at some point. :)
 
No need to worry man. I failed my CFI-I ride and it was a learning experience. You'll have something to talk about in your interview. The day you have a perfect flight is when you need to stop flying. Every flight should be a learning experience.
 
And what companies would those be?

I would say you're way off base in the overall scheme of things. Especially if said company has a union. Are there a few small outfits this may happen at? Perhaps, I'll believe it when you show me some facts. In any case, this is not how it usually works in the biz.
 
meritflyer said:
I heard failing recurrent at certain companies means the AXE!!
Click to expand...

Not here. Even failing your initial checkride doesn't mean you're done. You get another shot. Every company realizes that pilots have off days. Having one fall on a specific day shouldn't cost you your job.
 
When an airline spends tens of thousans of dollars on your training, they aren't going to waste you just because you have a bad day on one of your recurrent checkrides. Getting rid of you means they have to spend that money again on a new pilot. You can potentially have around 60 checkrides in your career. Busting one out of 60 is not nearly a good enough reason to spend the money to train somone else. If you make it a habbit of busting them, that's another story, because the additional training they have to give you starts to add up. Also a long history of failed checkrides may play a part in a hiring decision for the same reason.
 
Van_Hoolio said:
I failed three and I still got hired. Don't try and fail them though. :insane:
Click to expand...

On a side note, Van....

Did these failures come up during your interview? If so, what were the interviewers take or how did you handle it?

Congrats on the J O B.......
 
JEP said:
On a side note, Van....

Did these failures come up during your interview? If so, what were the interviewers take or how did you handle it?

Congrats on the J O B.......
Click to expand...

Yea, I brought them up. They just wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to give them some b.s. reason for MY failure.
 
Don't know if it is still true, but back when I worked for TSA (93-94), a failure of a Captain upgrade checkride meant you were terminated. If I remember correctly, Air Wisconsin allowed three failures over the course of your employment with them.
 
Here's a related question...

Are checkrides for airlines any harder or easier than checkrides during flight training, when somebody is just starting out and working their way up through their ratings?

That is to say, are the checkairmen at airlines very anal about doing things in a very exact way, and flying very precisely, or are they the same as most DPEs who just want the applicant to have good control of the plane, use good judgement, etc.

I've heard horror stories of how tough some checkairmen are, but I've also had a few friends tell me their first part 135 checkride was easier than any checkride they ever took during flight training.

Oh well...either way, I'm not worried, just curious. I figure thousands of other pilots can pass their checkrides, and I'm just as good as the next guy, so I ought to be able to hack it, too.
 
I know a guy who is a checkride machine - just an unstoppable checkride force. Past every rating first time, number of different aircraft, airlines, etc - no probs. This guys is just an amazing pilot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top