pem0055

Hello all, it makes me sick to my stomach writing this post but given the circumstances would like to know the implications of recent events. I'm a low time pilot at 600 tt. I recently had a gear up in a Piper Seneca I while giving dual instruction. I understand that no matter what the circumstances are, it is my responsibility as PIC and the incident will go on my record. I have nobody to blame but myself and would really appreciate it if people would spare me the lectures on what happened or what could have been done differently. At the end of the day it is done, and I can most certainly assure you that on that day I did not wake up and say to myself ' I'm going to go gear up a plane today'.

I have already submitted a report to the FAA and anticipate an impending 709 ride. My concern is when the smoke clears, how big will the scars be? Before the other day I feel that I had some pretty nice prospects at a few 135 operations. Fortunately the company I work for has allowed me to come back to work on Monday and my superiors are reasonably understanding about the situation.

It seems pretty obvious to me that getting a bigger and better job anytime soon is out of the question until I can put some more experience behind my name. I fully understand that I will have to disclose this incident to any prospective employer that I interview with. I know that I'm not the first person to do this nor will I be the last. I know it's not a career ending event and I have no intention on leaving the cockpit.

I'm 27 years old, 4-degree, CFI,CFII,MEI 600 TT 300 twin time. I would really appreciate any comments or advice from the perspective of experience regarding how I should plan on carrying on after this incident.

JohnBurke

Are you this guy? Aircraft accident advice.

You're the first person to ever have a gear-up landing in the history of aviation. Seriously. Consider fast food, or male hand modeling.

Have you learned something? Do you know how to prevent this from happening again? Can you explain that to someone else in an interview? You might stand a chance.

Your biggest obstacle right now, other than your own self-loathing and seething hatred, will be either continued employment at your present location, or your next one or two low-timer positions. Otherwise no, this is not a career ender. It just feels that way right now.

I know individuals who tore the wing off (owns the company now), landed gear up (also went on to own the company), and did numerous other bone-headed things...yet had long, successful careers and had something to discuss regarding lessons learned. I suspect you will, too.

What you've just experienced is a speed bump on the career of life. A temporarily painful bump, but that's all it is. Don't let it happen again. Don't be like the guy I watched do it in a mooney years ago, who climbed out of the airplane when it came to a rest and yelled "That's twice!"

pem0055

I appreciate the pick me up JohnBurke, I really needed that. The self loathing is real. It is easy to spend too much time analyzing the situation. I am just ready to put water under the bridge and move on. I feel like I could go on and on about this in ways that extend well beyond checklist usage. I plan on meeting with my chief tomorrow morning to get cleared to fly again. I Have every intention of flying for as long as I'm healthy. I'm just going to chock this up as a harsh lesson in reality and do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen again.

speed50

Penn,
I know exactly how you are feeling, i'm this guy Aircraft accident advice.

I have been out of the plane for about 4 months now since my accident, waiting for the investigation to end and to realize my fate. I have been told by my superiors that they will recommend me getting back in the plane asap. My situation is a bit more complicated than a gear up landing, not as black and white. With that said, I have been thru my scenario more times than I can count to include alt. scenarios to try an convince myself that I did something that caused my particular incident (which i don't believe nor is there proof). I like you find myself wondering how this will affect the rest of my career in the MIL and post Mil in the airline market. For the most part I have been told by current airline pilots as well as counselors from interview consultant firms that this is totally recoverable as long as you own it, can point to salient points of learning and to what steps you have taken to ensure something like that doesn't happened in the future. All have said that while your career in aviation isn't necessarily over, you have more of an uphill battle than those with no incidents to report. I guess the proof is in the pudding and i'll find out in the next year or so as i retire from the Mil and begin to seek interviews. Let me know if you won't to chat more. Misery loves company.

rickair7777

Both of you guys can expect to have a long airline career. As others have said, you're not the first nor the last.

For the CFI, this will be a non-event. Timing helps...any regional will hire you and then you'll have years and thousands of hours of 121 time under your belt before you even talk to the majors.

For speed50, I suspect this may slow you down just a bit but at least you'll have a little water under the bridge when the time comes. You may not get called by your first choice legacy right away, but there's always LCC as a career option (their pay is getting better) and you can start in the regionals if needed to get some 121 time. Also it might be good thing that I have no idea which incident you're talking about...if it had made the media in a big way that might have made some employers leery (ex Bagram,Tampa).

You'll both benefit from timing and all the pending retirements...everybody will have a shot, and at some point no airline will pass on an experienced mil pilot. Be glad this wasn't a few years ago...very few major airlines were hiring, and one of them was hiring a lot of ex space shuttle pilots as the shuttle phased out...night and day compared to now.

Dwelling these incidents right now is not going to help, focus your energy on other things in life or career and try not to lose sleep over it.

speed50

Rickair7777,
Thanks for the words. No my incident didn't garner any media coverage. My plan from this point forward is to put this behind me, get as much quality instructor time I can before retiring, do some interview prep focused on how to present my situation the best and then let it ride and hope for the best. I have toyed with the idea of a career change but that was before hearing, talking and getting advise from more seasoned individuals. If I look back in 20 or 30 years with remorse for not giving it a shot I think would be very disappointed. One last thing, to my wife's credit she was the first to tell me this when it first happened. Cheers.

Silver02ex

I flew with a guy at the regional, when he was a CFI, ran out of fuel while on a X-Country with a student. So he got hired a regional and now at a legacy (2015 hire). You'll just have to explain it during an interview.