How do YOU say fail
It's a traumatic moment in any pilot's career when he / she has failed a check. It's also a terrible moment for the Examiner / Check Airman to have to pronounce failure to a pilot under check.
I first encountered the Check Airman's dilemma when, as a Senior First Officer, I was support pilot to a senior captain during a simulator check, who repeatedly could not make standard in several attempts over several days. The Check Airman, the Chief Pilot, who ruled with a rod of iron, and allegedly ate nails for breakfast, drew me aside and said "How do I tell him that he's failed?" I was quite astounded and could not give him the answer, but had to do a lot of thinking about it it some years later when I became a Check Captain myself.
I would imagine that very very few of our colleagues would derive the slightest satisfaction in failing anyone, and, like myself and Captain Iron Bar, find it to be a distressing situation. Be assured, that a fail is a fail, and must be pronounced as such regardless of the pain involved to all parties.
So, Check Airmen and Women, how do YOU pronounce failure upon the unfortunate checkee?
I have a gut feeling that this might be a one post thread, so will add my own technique, given by a colleague from the late great Ansett Airlines - If the candidate has failed, ask him/her "How do you think you went?". 9 times out of 10 they pronounce themselves as a failure, and the rest is rather painless. It's the 1 occasion in 10 that they do not realise the shortcomings in their performance that causes the greatest dilemma.
Beazelbub, interested in your thoughts.
Regards,
Old Smokey