Originally Posted by
+TSRA
In a past life I interviewed a few pilots who had a mishap and I know of a few others who have been involved in serious incidents or accidents. In two of those cases the pilots involved were culpable.
Without exception each of these pilots found gainful employment at major airlines on their first application.
Why?
Because they were able to demonstrate three things:
1. Their incident or accident was not caused by wilful negligence on their part;
2. They took responsibility for their actions, without an attempt to defer that responsibility; and
3. They learned from the situation, applied those learnings in their own flying, and shared the knowledge.
We all make mistakes. But knowing that is not enough, we have to own our mistakes, even if there are contributing factors outside our control.
So ask yourself: If the incident or accident you refer to was the result of an action or inaction on your part, how are you going to ensure it doesn’t happen again? And in specifics, not just “I’ll keep a closer eye on xyz…” Be critical of yourself so that you can give an honest and real answer. That’s what the recruiter is looking for.
Now, it is likely you will get turned away by some airlines. That is inevitable. But, think of it this way: if that’s how a company treats you when you’re being open and honest, how do you think they’d treat you when you’re flying the line and you make a mistake? The culture probably sucks.
I don’t want to work for a company that will punish me for being human. If I intentionally do something to bend metal then I deserve to be in jail. But if I make a mistake and zig when I should have zagged, well, we all do that. Sometimes we get away with it, and sometimes we don’t.
relieving to hear! Thanks for posting this