wrxpilot

No offense intended (honestly! ), but I think some of you guys are being overly sensitive and dramatic about this. Nothing in the article suggests that pilots failing a checkride or two is unacceptable, nor have I heard anybody make any statements to that effect. I know lots of pilots that have busted one or two rides that I would trust to fly me or even my family anytime. I also know people that have never busted a ride that I don't think should be allowed to even ride a bicycle unsupervised.

What does seem to be an issue is multiple checkride failures. Some of the worst regional accidents in recent memory involved pilots with multiple checkride busts/training issues, including AE 3379 (why we now have PRIA), Pinnacle 4712 (410 it dude), and Colgan 3407. If a pilot has busted four or more checkrides, it raises some VERY serious red flags IMO.

Maybe it's just me, but I would not feel comfortable if one of the people up front has busted three or more checkrides within the short time span of a regional airline pilot career.

own nav

Maybe someone should clarify to the news media that you can't just go back to line flying after failing a checkride. There has to be retraining and a satisfactory check (if your airline even has enough confidence in you to recheck you).

I get the feeling that people are thinking that pilots can just fail and resume flying as if nothing happened.

VideoGuy

Well, there is your problem. The media only cares about advertising dollars. They can print a retraction later in the back of the paper.

TPROP4ever

Exactly, funny how the sensational twisted facts always make the front page, but the retraction and apology are always at the bottom of the last page...most likely in the section nobody reads......Gotta love the press

Mabye if more journalists got exposed like Dan Rather, they would make darn sure before they print somthing..never gonna happen though//Gotta love that Danny boys career ended with egg on his face though, its a start

VideoGuy

The TV station I worked for years ago, we did all of our retractions at the end of the broadcast or they would do it during the 5pm news since viewship was lower.

USMCFLYR

I would think that even a P121 pilot would make many many decision on a regular basis during a trip. You are highly standardized - I mean how else could two people come together that have never even met one another - yet act as a insync team and fly a jet across the country and achieve such a safety record despite the challenges? Question - - - do the P121 pilots FEEL like they are robots?

USMCFLYR

Dynasty22

DeltaPaySoon,

What do you propose the FAA to do?

USMCFLYR

gtech and DMB -

You are both correct but this doesn't end with the aviation profession and in different circumstances you would look at a similar situation with the same wariness.
Imagine how you would few the situation if the surgeon who operated on your family member lost the patient on the table during a *routine* operation; and then found out that the doctor had failed his boards multiple times and had been under investigation in the recent past for other practices during surgery. Even less dramatic - the accountant who messed up your business' books and got you into trouble with the IRS and then found out that he had to take the CPA exam twice as many times as the national average to pass.
When dealing with tests and qualification (flight checks) it is easy to see why it is a black and white issue for the unknowing public eye - but I venture to guess that we would be as critical of professions that we know little about.

USMCFLYR

kalyx522

This article (and others) also doesn't differentiate failing training checkrides and 121 checkrides. I'd say there is a big difference between failing your commercial checkride because you were 5 knots over on your lazy 8 and failing an upgrade checkride at your airline.

And I find this really hard to believe:

"Pilots on major airlines and large cargo haulers had failed the tests more than once in only one of the 10 serious accidents in this country over the past 10 years, according to a USA TODAY review of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports."

plus I don't even know what they're trying to prove by providing this "fact"... if they're trying to say pilots who've never or rarely failed checkrides make better/safer pilots.... well they're admitting right here that these pilots have gotten into serious accidents [despite their stellar pass rates]... so their point is....????????

DeltaPaySoon

You know, there was a day when 200 people were trying to get into a facility that only accepted 60. The remaing folks were just not the best and had to accept that. Today, all you need is cash. If we could get the FAA to once again restrict the number of training positions (for 121 FO's) we could go a long way in restoring.....well, a lot of what is problematic these days.

Eliminating the outrageous number of training slots would allow for more consistancy in an ATP applicant that, I agree, should be the min.

Unfortunately, flight training went from preparing the best applicants to just being about money and then so many people wonder why we have all this finger pointing and "misunderstanding".

Calling for a more aggressive FAA is the only answer IMHO.