Anybody who is currently dealing with a situation like this (accident/incident, LOI, warning letter, etc.) please read, re-read and then for good measure, read these two statements again.

Several years ago I was involved in an incident. Completely 100% my fault, total bonehead mistake. I’m just very glad that nobody was hurt and the airplane was still usable afterwards. I thought for sure my career was over, or at least the idea of flying for my dream carrier (or any other large carrier for that matter).

Fast forward to present day and it’s been almost a year since I got hired by said dream carrier. I didn’t give up, kept trying and applying and eventually when the interview came I knew how to talk about my mistake. I honestly think it separated me from the rest of the group and showed just how grateful I was to even be in that position; interviewing for a major. This “scarlet letter” I thought I was burdened with for the rest of my flying career turned out to be the thing that probably landed me the job.

You are not your mistakes. I know we would all like to have perfect records; no check ride failures, no DUIs, no letters in our files, etc. The truth is that we all fall short at some point. What you do when that happens is what ultimately determines your path forward. How will you take this experience and make yourself better for it? Only you can decide that. Just know that it isn’t the career ender like you think it is.

Check ‘YES’ on your applications and when you do finally get the interview and the job, you’ll feel so much better about it. Or spend the rest of your days constantly in fear, looking over your shoulder and wondering if this is the day they finally find out. Your call.