checkride failures
 

how hard is it to recover a ootential career after a checkride failure, i.e. failing an instrument checkride or commercial ride?

One or even two should not be a big deal, especially at the PVT/INST/COMM level... everyone realizes that your school/CFI could have easily had more to do with a pinkslip than any fault of yours. At CFI and beyond, the assumption is that you should know the drill, and should take responsibility for your own preparation even if your instructor(s) does not.

You want to avoid numerous pink slips, or multiple pinks on the same ride.

I know guys at majors that failed something. The important thing is to be honest. The application or interview will cover this and you can explain what happened. If you get caught in a lie, you will NOT be hired. They check you records. Don't sweat it.

Just like Otto said, be honest with an interviewer and you'll be okay. I failed 2 rides- Instrument and CFI initial, and was still hired. They just want to see that you take responsibility for the failure, and that you were proactive in becoming more proficient in whatever it was that you were failed on.

That said, I went to school with a guy who failed 4 checkrides over the span of his training and was still hired. Another yahoo I trained with failed his CMEL three times in a row, had to wait the mandadted time, and finally passed... he's now at some regional, forgot which though.

No worries on one failure though, just don't make a habit of it! ;)

I think failures are just like having something like an incidnent on your record. As long as you learn from it, and know what you did and what to do to prevent it in the future it won't hurt you bad as long as you're not habitually screwing up as previously mentioned.

I know lots of people, including myself, that failed the CFI the first time. **** happens. I know what I did, and haven't made the same mistake since then.

They want to see you take the blame for the failure. Even if your isntructor didn't prepare you well enough, take the blame yourself. Don't project the blame on someone else. As long as you do that, I have never heard of any problems.

Wow I guess I'll spill the beans. I failed my PPL because during the stall portion I guess the combination of being out of practice and other portions of the checkride on my mind at the time, the 150 dipped over and rather than putting the nose down and using opposite rudder I used rudder in the same direction as the plane was dipping over and for the first time I saw a spin. Every one of my previous instructors said I flied real well and it was a slap in the face when that happened. Got my pink slip, but passed the 2nd time without issue, but God it sure was a reality check. Ok everyone...go ahead and laugh :(.

Spins. . . not looking forward to Spins. I'm going to spend some time with my CFI working on them in a 150, even though I won't "formally" be tested / trained on them until CFI. I'd much rather have an impression, and atleast one or two spins under my belt before I see it when it will matter.

Spins are nothing to be afraid of. I think it is unfortunate they no longer do them in the PPL. I didnt do my first spin until 100 hours and i did it in a Citabria with a good tailwheel instructor, i now try to spin at least once out of ever 3 or so tailwheel hours. You never know when a spin will hit you and the first few will probably scare the hell out of you for the first few turns but after a while it is just a manuever like anything else and you will have the confidence to get out of it, and actually enjoy them.

CWU- bummer on the checkride but it has happened to thousands before and will happen to thousands after, it is a good learning experience and hopefully the DPE turned it into a lesson for you.

The education value of that was more than worth a pink slip at the PPL level.