Originally Posted by
Silverwings
That's what I thought but wanted to know other people's thoughts. I did all my flight training (Commercial AMEL and CFII with over 980 TT) abroad in my native country (Uruguay) and moved to USA where I started re-validating all the licenses and ratings. I got busted in the first check-ride here in USA (Commercial ASEL)
I trained using a foreign-based license and my original license was about to expire so I had a time limit to finish everything and take the check-ride, or I would have to fly back to Uruguay to renew it. I did very good on the ride but weather was deteriorating very rapidly so the examiner called it off for the day and rescheduled for 2 days later (one day before my Uruguayan license would expire) That day came and weather was still bad, so the examiner called earlier and told me and my CFI to get the plane and fly IFR to another airport about 35 miles away where weather was better and he also was closer to that airport.
So we flew IFR (I had the rating but not in the foreign-based license, so my CFI flew me to this airport, unknown to me)
There we resumed the check-ride, I took off and while climbing to my usual altitude for maneuvering he asked me to level off and tells me the ride was failed. I was about to get into B airspace
There he told me I could get an American medical certificate and could keep using the foreign-based license... bummer
So I got the medical and took the ride a couple weeks later and passed it with no problem.
What can I say, believe me I learned a lot from this experience, nothing similar to this will ever ever happen to me again.
But now I feel like I ruined my whole career and now will never get a job ever
Nah you haven't ruined your career. So you made a mistake, who hasn't? Like you said before, disclose it when they ask, and during the interview when it comes up just give them a brief summary of what you said here.
Their main concern is that you are capable of making it through initial training. These days they may have more of an eye out for patterns of failed checkrides, especially since the Colgan crash, but one isolated event shouldn't be a deal breaker.