I took my IFR check ride last year and failed it twice. I was very upset as I thought my chances in the airlines were now pretty slim. I eventually got all those thoughts out of my head, but now that I am nearing training for my commercial ticket, they've come back. I’ve been pretty embarrassed to tell this story, but here’s the beans.

I passed the oral fine, and on the first approach I was performing a VOR/GPS overlay approach but forgot to change the CDI to GPS and flew the VOR instead. On my second try while approaching mins my DE told me "don't look up (from the hood) until I tell you to." I took this literally, and I didn't look up. I hit minimums and stayed there, flying past the airport. I questioned him a minute later and he asked if I knew where I was. I did. He then failed me because I didn't go around. I would of, as I've done many times before in training, but his last comment and his complete lack pre-flight briefing created this misunderstanding. I told him this and he had no answer, I was fuming in the cockpit, as this communication misunderstanding cost me another $400, and more importantly, another pink slip towards my future career. I landed and didn’t speak one word as he typed my failure into the computer.

I would like to also point out I took his aircraft safety class in college and earned an A. He knew who I was from class, and even complemented me, twice, on my flying ability and landings after my failed check rides. He also told my flight instructor, who told me (for whatever reason remains unknown) that he hasn’t failed a student twice in his 30 or so years examining… Real nice, right?


On my third try, and to my relief, he told me he had thought a lot about the circumstances of my second failure and would not fail me again, but issue a discontinuance if needed. I passed and he told me how great of a pilot I was, telling me my ILS was flown to ATP standards and how impressed he was. I didn’t care though; I’ve already failed twice, something his other students have never done. He reassured me my chances wouldn’t be hurt in the airlines—I smelled BS.

I’m looking for some insight. I’ve searched and never found anything about a student failing a check ride multiple times and the impact on their career. Do I own up to this and turn it into a learning experience? That’s what I am leaning towards; I guess after all, I could have clarified what he meant. Will airlines consider this as a training liability, or is this too early in my training? He also mentioned the possibly of filing a note on my second pink slip, not quite sure, but can airlines look at this? I appreciate the thoughts.