eventhorizon

Hi Lori,

A few years ago, I was a 121 pilot with a perfect training record. I won't go into all of the details, but I was dealing with a very ill family member at the time my recurrent PC came up, and had returned from leave to do my PC (needless to say I was very rusty). I ended up acing the oral but unsating on the non-flying pilot side of things during the sim ride . My PC was discontinued at that time and my quals were pulled.

I had been flying with this company for 4 years without incident and no prior busts in my entire aviation career. During the debrief, I was told due to the nature of the failure it would not be reported to the FAA nor would it show on a PRIA, it was strictly an "in-house" event. This was confirmed by an FAA APM.

After this event, I went right back to taking care of my family member. Things got to the point with this family member where it wasn't possible to take the time and requal, so eventually I ended up resigning. I want to make it clear that I was in no way forced to resign.

My question is:

How is a 121 employer going to look at this situation (resigning before requalifying on a bust)? We are told over and over again not to make excuses for failing a PC, and I won't, so what is the best way to approach this? Honesty is the best policy but if it isn't on a PRIA, am I shooting myself in the foot by reporting it?

I can also do some 135 flying (I've got several connections in that area), that way I'm presenting a successful track record since my 121 blunder - tell me what you think. Now that my family issue has been resolved, I'd like to get back to flying. Thanks in advance for your help.

P.S. All opinions are welcome

jonnyjetprop

I would find it hard to believe that this would not be reported to an another airline. I'd disclose it. The only guarantee is that if you don't disclose it and they find out, you're out the door.

How would it look? First, it depends on the carrier you're applying to. Regional, I'd say no big deal, especially since your record was clean before and after. Major might be a different story. You may want to try to get referrences from somebody on the inside to verify your story.

What was your status at your former carrier? Are you considered elligable for rehire? If so, are you interested in returning? If yes, call the cp and let him know you're ready to come back.

eventhorizon

Agreed.

Verify what story? The family matter? No problem there; I was on FMLA at the time and I've got every medical record from the occurrence.

Eligible for rehire, and no I don't want to return there. It was a regional job and I wasn't too crazy about the airline to be perfectly honest.

Thanks for the response Jonny.

rickair7777

In truth I cannot see any possible way that this is not PRIA material. If they don't report it, great, but I kind of think they are supposed to.


But I would think that under the circumstances with the family situation you should be able to explain this, especially given your previous record.

eventhorizon

Rickair,

Thanks for the response. I'll run a PRIA and see what I get - either way, I'm going to report it. I've always been a proponent of full disclosure, it's just that I am unfamiliar with this situation, hence the questions. I know it would have been better to just requal, but it was getting to the point where I was so stressed out with both issues going on (the thought of another possible failure, and the family stuff) that I just felt I had to take a step back. I tried to get on a long term LOA, but the company wouldn't do that for me.

Anyways, feel free to ask additional questions if you would like; I really appreciate the input.

rickair7777

You can't really "run" a PRIA check on yourself...

There are two parts, the FAA and former employers.

You could request your FAA info of course.

But for former (and current) employers, about all you can do is ask to view your records, I don't think they are required to even give you copies. The problem here is that viewing your record will not answer the question as to which info will actually be returned when they get the PRIA form. The law specifies the info to return, but it's possible tat different employers might interpret that differently, or simply screw up.

The one time you do get copies of PRIA info is when a potential employer submits PRIA requests to previous employers (and the FAA)...there is a box you can check which requires the responding organization to send you copies (they can charge a small fee). I suppose you could do a "practice interview" at a regional and see what comes back, but employers won't submit the PRIA requests until you accept the job offer or maybe actually start class.

eventhorizon

Rickair,

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

fjetter

You mentioned that you have a few connections for 135 gigs. I would probably look to take advantage of those connections. When the 135 carrier hires you, they have to run a PRIA as well. When doing the PRIA, request a copy of your training records on Form 8060-11a. Then you will know exactly whats on there. Then you can get current and will be confident in knowing what info a future airline will be receiving.

eventhorizon

Hi Fjetter,

I was thinking the same thing.

clipperskipper

Getting back into the business isn't that big of a deal, I can relate first hand after being out of it for more than a decade. I had two major stumbling blocks to face in order to market myself, one was the stigma of being self employed, and second recency of experience. The self employed aspect was fairly easy, I became a General Manager and worked for an LLC I gave to my wife.

The recency aspect took calling in a favor by getting some time with a CFI buddy in his Cessna, and renewing my CFI. Okay, I'm current and trainable, more or less. Three weeks later I had three offers in hand.

What I did have in hand was all of my training records from my previous (defunct) 121 employer, all FAA airman and medical records, and a recent NDR report, also clean. Each employer will have you notarize the NDR request as they get their own, however it was one less thing for the hr folks to wonder about initially. One Check Airman I met with in an interview saw through the self employment, however thought it was pretty cool after explaining what I had been, and still am doing.

As above you can get your own paperwork prior to see exactly what to lay on the table. Best of luck, I'm having a ball!