Originally Posted by
Bahamasflyer
Is it REALLY a bust if one didn't receive a "pink slip" from a DPE/Fed/checkairman?
I have trouble believing what the OP describes is really a jeopardy event, unlike an actual checkride/PC.
The way that an approved 141 course works is that you get your certificate/rating as a result of graduating the course, not passing an individual lesson. Although the "end" lesson is conducted as a check, it doesn't count as a "checkride failure" and nothing goes on your pilot record in Oklahoma City. The 8710 form is only submitted after you have completed the course, unlike 61 where it's filled out and submitted after the checkride regardless of the outcome.
That said, if an airline asks if you've ever had a "checkride failure", it's probably best to answer "yes" and be completely honest. You didn't fail a practical test for certificate and/or rating, you failed and end of course test, but it's more on the perception of the beholder as to if these are really different things. What you are trying to avoid is not mentioning something that the airline discovers, then it looks like you are being deceitful and they usually have no tolerance for that.
The school on the other hand is required to maintain a passing rate for the "practical test", so while it doesn't necessarily count against the pilot, it does count against the school and they may not be able to renew their school's certificate unless they can maintain a high enough passing rate.
No one is perfect and it's understood that a pilot may fail a check early on. What they are looking out for is patterns of failures. This is not required to be "pulled" by the airlines, but most do this in addition to the basic PRIA requirements, so checkride failures (part 61) do show up, but again no pilot department is going to seriously hold a failure like that against a pilot, they are looking for patterns of failures, multiple repeats for multiple certificates, repeated failed 135/121 checks, etc.