In need of advice/opinions

MichaelC

MichaelC

Well-Known Member
Hello, all! I've recently had a series of unfortunate events occur to me and I'm very curious to hear others' opinions on my situation.

As of a few days ago, my flight instruction job was terminated because I left a tie down on the airplane. We started up, released the brakes, and the rope broke. At the time of the incident, I had about 1075 TT with about 800 dual given. I accept full responsibility for the event, and I have definitely learned a very important lesson about always shadowing students on the preflight no matter how much you've flown with them. (I got this student in IRC and we were about halfway through his CMEL)

I obiouvsly respect the decision of the company to terminate my employment, but I am very fearful for my future. I was very close (less than 10 hours) away from beginning to put my resume out on the regional market. In the honest opinions of you folks, do I still have a decent chance of obtaining my goals at the airlines? Is there anything that you all feel I should do?

Thanks very much for your time!
 
You're done. I'd quit right now if I were you and surrender your certificate.





:)

I don't think you'd have any trouble at all. This isn't a one-mistake industry. And if queried on an interview, just be humble and truthful. So what......you made a mistake. Ultimate loss: one tiedown rope. I've seen pilots with much worse keep on trucking.
 
The only pilot I ever encountered that had never made a mistake is Doug, the founder of this site. Everyone else here has done something weird probably. I wouldn't worry too much about a broken tie-down rope. If that is the only thing you break in aviation in 1,000+ hours that's pretty good I think. Also, your attitude is right - taking full responsibility and all.
 
I saw a guy drag a tie down chain all the way back from Yuma to Willie one time...landed, taxied to the ramp, got out to tie it down only to discover the chain still hanging from the wing.:cwm27:
 
MichaelC said:
As of a few days ago, my flight instruction job was terminated because I left a tie down on the airplane. We started up, released the brakes, and the rope broke.
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If a Cessna at idle can break the rope, I don't even see the point of using them. What were they made out of, crochet yarn? In a 45kt wind those ropes can have a few thousand lbs of force on them. Ain't the first time a rope or chock was left on a aircraft, won't be the last either. No damage to the plane? Wouldn't worry about it. And they were gonna fire you anyway, this was just an excuse.
 
I have seen that happen many many times before.

If it makes you feel better, I know of an instructor who actually crashed with his student after take off. The instructor failed to ensure proper right rudder.

That instructor is flying right seat on an ATR-72 today.

Dont be too hard on yourself. :)
 
Thanks very much for everyone's reassurances!

@drunkenbeagle - I agree with your entire post. The airplane had absolutely no damage. The aircraft was actually a PA44 which has some get-up-and-go even at idle. The ropes are about 4 years old.. They've been sitting in rain, snow, 130 degree temps, and freezing temps. I imagine they're slightly weaker than new ropes.

Unfortunately the climate at the flight school has been very negative due to the current state that the industry is in. This is entirely due to the current manager who is conditionally hired with ExpressJet. He has been waiting class date for over 2 years now. Needless to say, he is a very bitter person. Due to the aforementioned climate, instructors have been continously "relieved" to make room for new graduates hopeful to be instructors.

Again, thanks for everyones' kind words.
 
True story,

I was, at one point, the Lead Pilot for a traffic reporting operation.

One of the pilots under my charge took off for his morning traffic flight with the tow bar still attached to the nose wheel!!! (the tow bar was resting on the nose wheel pant literally inches from the prop)

The pilot came in to land and taxiied to the self serve pump when some guy walks up to him and points it out to him.

The pilot thanked the man and made a wise crack, something along the lines of:
"Boy, arent I lucky that my boss didnt see that!"

The man looked at him and then asked to see his license. The man was an FAA inspector doing ramp checks.


Needless to say I suspended the pilot and then management fired him. Today he is flying for an airline too.

Again, dont be too hard on yourself:)
 
I gotta wonder about an employer who would fire because of that. I want the back story! :dunno:
 
we had a student and instructor snap the tie down bracket off the bottom of the wing. He kept his job though. Sucks that they let you go, but i highly doubt it would come back to haunt you.
 
Well, one of the Academy's (hint) selling points is a possible instructor position. I talked to some friends in the main base in Florida (another hint) and they said they're firing people left and right at any excuse to make room for new graduates, as few and far between as those are. I believe my experience can exemplify that.

This, however, is no excuse for my lack of complete attention in this case. I should have never given them a reason.
 
FlySooner9 said:
we had a student and instructor snap the tie down bracket off the bottom of the wing. He kept his job though. Sucks that they let you go, but i highly doubt it would come back to haunt you.
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I was very pleased to find that we had not done that. Mx did an inspection and found no issues. The plane returned to service the very next day.
 
Damn MichealC. I've effed up so many times and publicly I don't know where to begin. Learned from them all, still employed. Move on when you feel comfortable.
 
RICHARD5 said:
I gotta wonder about an employer who would fire because of that. I want the back story! :dunno:
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x2, like someone else said, they we're probably already looking for people to let go and used this as an excuse if all you did was break a rope. Heck I know this happened back at my home airport with one of our CFI's and our manager chuckled. Couldn't imagine being fired over that.
 
MichaelC said:
Well, one of the Academy's (hint) selling points is a possible instructor position. I talked to some friends in the main base in Florida (another hint) and they said they're firing people left and right at any excuse to make room for new graduates, as few and far between as those are. I believe my experience can exemplify that.

This, however, is no excuse for my lack of complete attention in this case. I should have never given them a reason.
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That sucks man, I would have been fired many times over already if my company was that strict with mistakes. I think you are definitely right about them wanting to make room to hire graduates. I know a lot of companies found ways to get rid of senior employees(highest salary) when the recession began. Its too bad the industry is still so far down in the dumps.
 
Mark815 said:
Heck I know this happened back at my home airport with one of our CFI's and our manager chuckled. Couldn't imagine being fired over that.
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In the interest of full disclosure, I've tried to taxi with a tail tiedown still attached. It was embarrassing for about the 30 seconds it took to shut down untie it. I think most of us have done worse. (If an FAA inspector wants to ask about it, I'd be happy to talk. Don't remember what state or even what airport...)
 
1,000 hours and just one tie down rope? You didn't want to work for them anyway, if they would fire you over a rope.

, here's my list during my early training:

1) First XC solo, valve broke off in a cylinder. Left the airplane at my destination airport. Needed a new cylinder and piston before coming home.
2) Still solo, alternator.
After private checkride all these while XC:
3) Flat main tire
4) Voltage regulator
5) Vacuum pump failure
6) Oil door broke on a C172, the cowling had to come off during a XC to check oil.
Instrument XC's
7) Spinner damn near ripped off due to vibration on a 5 hour XC
8) Lost comm's

That's just in the first one hundred hours I've been flying. Since then with my commercial and CFI... I couldn't count the light bulbs, beacons and other stuff that has worn out while I was flying. Even had to have a gear up recently because the nose gear wouldn't extend.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
In the interest of full disclosure, I've tried to taxi with a tail tiedown still attached. It was embarrassing for about the 30 seconds it took to shut down untie it. I think most of us have done worse. (If an FAA inspector wants to ask about it, I'd be happy to talk. Don't remember what state or even what airport...)
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Oh yeah, I've been there too! :laff:
 
In the late 70's my friend and I were both pursuing the same woman, he was winning. His first date was a fly to dinner date. She was in awe as he did the walk around of the PA-28 140. After they got in the plane I sneaked out and reattached the tail tie down.

Maybe that's why he doesn't fly for an airline?
 
fholbert said:
In the late 70's my friend and I were both pursuing the same woman, he was winning. His first date was a fly to dinner date. She was in awe as he did the walk around of the PA-28 140. After they got in the plane I sneaked out and reattached the tail tie down.

Maybe that's why he doesn't fly for an airline?
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Haha! That's awesome!
 
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