Getting Hired with a Recent Accident
 

Good Morning,

What are the chances of being hired with a recent accident on record? Said accident was due to mechanical failure and there is no pilot error or enforcement action associated with it. However only the preliminary NTSB report is out at this time.

It seams that most application systems ask about accidents or incidents. When you check “yes” are you essentially tossed to the side? What are the chances of getting a face to face with this fairly fresh accident record?

I sure as heck would hope it would not come into play at all. I mean......if it did then Sully would have been at a disadvantage if he was in the hunt. Pretty silly.

I’d even argue that it makes me a BETTER airman assuming it was a true mechanical failure that caused it, which it sounds like it was.

Of course have a good story when it comes up in the interview and explain how you’ve become a better pilot as a result

To my knowledge no US airline completely filters out apps because the accident box was checked, or any other box.

What they may (likely) do is rank that app lower simply because it's going to require more effort on the part of the hiring team to research and adjudicate the circumstances in order to make a decision.

But I would think with all the hiring you'll get a call eventually.

Overseas is different, many airlines would simply refuse to hire a pilot with an accident history, at fault or not.

Yes, Sully's app would have been scored lower.

Remember it's not about being fair to the applicants, it's about being cheap and easy for the employer. Clean records are easy (and therefore cheap) to adjudicate).

I see what you mean. That’s very unfortunate however.

Of course in 5-10 yrs the majors won’t be able to be picky like they are now so that’s good at least.

This is exactly what I was afraid of.

That’s been the hope of many pilots for the last 40 years and it’s always been “in the next 5-10 years”. There’s always a plentiful supply for the top jobs—the big 6 will never not be picky.

GF

This time math supports that hope.

It did most of those times, too. Lots of steep upward hiring curves in the ‘80s and ‘90s. At various times, it was the retirement of the WW II and Korean War generation, then the early jet era retirements, then Vietnam guys. Oh, the hiring boom of early deregulation.

Then, on the opposite side, Energy Crisis I & II; several recessions, with or without energy crisis, 9/11 and 2008 Great Recession. Think, in the last 19 years there’s been two major hiring busts.

Unfortunately nothing to do with fair, stuff happens.
Good luck.