Schumer Calls for Senate Hearings into Colgan Air E-Mails | wgrz.com


....now it seems they want a senate hearing over the emails.

I'm not a 300 hour pilot, but am close to 1000 and have been busting my hump instructing. I learn something on every flight as well, mostly what not to do. I'm not sure if sitting in the right seat running my mouth and barely touching the controls is still making me a better pilot, other than at flying C-152s in VFR. I meet the minimums for most of the regionals out there (except Colgan, Skywest, Pinnacle, Compass & Republic), but I can not get anyone to send another email besides the "thanks but no thanks" emails. All I'm asking for is the opportunity to interview, not demanding a job, just want to be interviewed. If they decide then that I'm not right for the job, then so be it. But just give us guys who have had some difficulties the opportunity to show what we have learned from past mistakes.

Let me share the short version of my story to illustrate how crazy things have become after 3407 concerning check rides.

In late 2007, I was hired as a STREET CAPTAIN to fly the Saab 340. I had about 3200 hours including a couple years of 135 time in King Airs and a type rating in the Citation V. I had zero 121 experience, so training was challenging, as well as IOE. But I applied myself, did well in training, of course passed all the check rides and was, I believe, a competent and well-liked captain. Like an idiot, I left Colgan in 2010 for a 91 gig that dried up. I left because I had been pushed back onto reserve (as FOs upgraded) and was making only $39k with no relief in sight. If I had toughed it out for a year, the ALPA contract would have raised my pay, although I'd still be on reserve.

When I resigned, the DO called me and asked "is there anything I can do to help?" That was nice, but I knew he couldn't fix the pay or work rules or any of the other stuff that people who read this board will know all about.

OK. Here's the kicker, folks. Colgan/Pinnacle/Mesaba won't even invite me for an interview to be a FIRST OFFICER now even though I was a successful CAPTAIN.

Why? Because 11 years ago (and more than 5,000 hours of flight time ago) I failed 4 check rides while doing ATP's semi-ridiculous Career Pilot Program. I won't go into the details of the rides (they were multi engine, instrument TWO TIMES, HOLY CRAP, and MEI (which was my initial CFI ride). It was all my fault, but it's more complicated than that. My instructor had 300 hours and, in retrospect, was more interested in building Seminole time flying with ATP candidates than working with me any my partner. As an experienced instructor myself now, I can safely say had no business giving instrument instruction at that time. But I trusted him when he signed me off. My fault. I had a huge personality problem with the DPE, but again, my fault. Other guys passed. I analyzed my experience and think I drew the right conclusions.

Since November 2000, I have had 100 percent success in check rides, CFII, ATP, CE-500 type rating, SF-340 type rating ... like 8 135 rides and 4 121 rides not counting Fed Rides, line checks and all the other jeopardy events Colgan captains were exposed to after 3407.

Recently, I interviewed at Compass and they grilled me for 20 minutes about these failures, even though I passed their special Delta/Fed-ex pilot knowledge test, the cognitive ability test, etc. and everything else I've mentioned. The fact that I have no violations, letters, problems with FAA and had flown successfully all over the Colgan system, to say nothing of my 135 experience .... well, that never came up.

Leaving Colgan was perhaps the stupidest thing I could have done for my 121 aspirations, thinking I could chill out in a 91 gig until SWA or DAL started hiring again. But on the other hand, it was getting really tough to support a wife, 3 kids and a dog as an airline captain making around $40k a year.

Maybe those failures were God's way of getting me to pick a more sensible career ... I don't know. (That was kind of a joke, but maybe not ... ) But the situation makes me crazy. I think about those failures, how avoidable each one of them was, every day. If I'd just stayed at my FBO and continued on with my instructors, who were excellent, I might not have had any failures, who knows? But I quit my job, took out a loan and went to ATP so I could get ahead faster to be an airline pilot.

And now I get to watch while 800-hour pilots who've never flown in a cloud, carried a load of ice, picked their way through TS get interviews jobs, and I can't do anything but wait for a change in hiring policy. But I guess I can't blame the airlines as long as they have applicants with zero failures or less than two in the current legal/media climate.

Eagle was the only company nice enough to at least send me a letter that they weren't interested. From everyone else, I just get silence.
I mean, not even freaking GoJets has responded to me. Talk about being persona non grata!

If you are considering some kind of fast-track training, make sure you check the quality of the instruction and the learning experience. There were good things about ATP, but at the time, there was almost no oversight of instructors. I would bet that things have changed in the decade since I finished. Hopefully, they have.

I have to say I have a little more empathy for spitfire's story than the kids who are crying in their beers because they can't get hired with less than 1000 hours with multiple checkride failures.

spitfire, that sucks! It's all yet another fallout from 3407. Because if something was to happen, all the media would do is pull those failures out from 10+ years ago and say "OMG! Pilot failed 4 times! Incompetent pilot! A failure! Should not have been flying!" And you, and your family, would be dragged through this media hell. And then the lawyers, the letters, the court dates would start.

I remember a time when everyone said that one or two checkride failures, maybe even 3, wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and as long as you accept responsibility and explain it nicely in interviews, it wouldn't matter. Now, I know pilots getting "No thanks!" emails or letters because of a failed checkride or two!

You can thank MR for that. I understand the dead cannot speak for themselves, and I do not want to judge him for the actions that night, HOWEVER, what I can judge on are the lies of checkride failures on the initial Colgan application. No professional pilot should EVER lie on an application regarding failures. He disclosed only the number that he knew would still allow him to get hired without any hiccups. Intentionally hiding this kind of detail speaks volumes of a pilot's character and morals. So now by default, the second the airline sees even one checkride failure, the flags all start to go up.

Damn! That suuuucks! I love these frckin' witch hunts fueled by CNN snippets. Everyone is so worried about their media image, we are hiring people with no nothing on their records simply because THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET. Sleep well America.

Unfortunately you are correct and this Colgan thing and a few other accidents put a spotlight on checkride failures. It is all because it is in the news. The worst part about it is there are some DPE's that will fail a % of pilots just to make themselves look good in the eyes of the FAA. I don't care who you are there are some checkrides GOD couldn't pass. Another thing that they do not consider is a guy with 10,000 hours has no doubt taken 50-100+ checkrides while a newbie 1000 hour wonder has had what less than 10? There are people that have failed checkrides and people who are going to fail checkrides.

Mesaba didn't even respond to my application in early 2009, even with types in the 747, A320, and EMB-145, thousands of hours of Jet PIC, former LCA, no training issues, no FAA issues, etc.

Good luck to all of you trying to charm the HR folks.

That's because you were overqualified.

Imagine if even one of those check ride failures had also resulted in being fired from a part 121 air carrier.