A Suicidal Student?

[gear goes down]

I have only been a flight instructor for a little under a year now and thought I have seen everything, until yesterday. It was with a potential new student. He is an older guy and road a lot in airplanes in the Vietnam war (and was shot down twice). He is a big talker and just wont shut up about the war and getting shot down. Anyways, all in all he is a really nice guy, however, seams to have some issues about the Vietnam thing still (which is understandable).

Well, we had a into flight scheduled yesterday and he showed up. When he got here he was walking around the ramp talking to other pilots and smoking near airplanes. My Chief flight instructor saw this and told me to tell him that he is not allowed on the ramp without an instructor and not to smoke near the airplanes. So I did. I politely asked him to not smoke near the planes and explained why, letting him now that it could possibly cause an explosion from the fuel vapors. And he replied back with “oh, that’s ok, I’m suicidal anyways.” That got me thinking.

I reported that to the Chief instructor an he had a talk with him for about 15 min. and said he should be fine to fly but I had the final decision. So I decided (hesitantly) to go, we flew and everything was fine. After we land he is now really interested in getting his pilots license. I explained the medical certificate process and gave him the name of the dr I send all my students to. He replied that he already has a flight dr from the VA where he can get a medical and he has already talked with him. The dr told him if this flight went good that he could get his medical.

If he actually gets his medical certificate this will be a strange one. Does anyone have any thought or concerns about someone like this? I just don’t know what to do about this one.

 

[Andy Neill]

Sounds to me like an off the cuff remark and wouldn't, by itself, be of any concern to me.

I had a stick buddy when I was going through initial training who WAS suicidal - wanted to unstrap and jump out during his flight lesson. He never soloed and was eliminated for obvious reasons.

 

[svcta]

Yeah, don't get wrapped up in this. Bear in mind that you had just told him he was doing something wrong.......he was probably trying to make light of the situation and save a little embarassment.

And for the record, a smoker is not going to blow an airplane up unless he's really really trying. And even then it will be very hard.

Dig the Uncle Rico avatar, by the way.

 

[Metro752]

gear goes down

god dang you were brought up in a sheltered enviroment, besides the fact that you aren't going to blow up an airplane by smoking cigarettes standing next to it, in it, on it, under it.

He's a Vietnam vet, he made that joke, and you had to hassle him about it.

YOU COULD have been cool, and said hey man, my boss doesn't want anyone to be smoking near the airplanes. I guarantee 99% he would have stopped, and if he didn't stop after his current cigarette, then I would ask him again, and say it's not your policy, it's the flight schools, and you could get in trouble if he continues while he's under your instruction.

He probably said what he said about suicide because you're a little sally.


NOW, if you are a petite female, and all this went down and you didn't know how to handle it, ok I take back everything else I wrote.

Otherwise, get some social skills and grow up and quit hasseling vets who are trying to learn how to fly, and in the process paying your meal ticket.

Also about the VA medical examiner......... Do you have any idea what a VA is? VA is a hospital for veterans........it would be a discounted/free exam for the guy instead of shelling out a $100 for a medical from some dumb civillian doctor. I hope your feelings really weren't that hurt if he didn't want to go see who you referred him to.

 

[Metro752]

hehe maybe i went a little overboard, sorry

 

[JediNein]

Yeah Metro. A little. It's not the fuel that causes the explosion, it's the fuel vapors coming out of the fuel vents that cause the explosion.

 

[svcta]

Even the vapors are hard to ignite(nearly, if not completely,impossible) with a ciggy. Beside the fact that they won't even ignite in regular air without exactly 14.7:1 mixture(forgive me if that number is off a bitm I'm working from memory here). It just requires more heat than a cigarette makes in open air. Try it sometime(disclaimer:with proper supervision, kiddies). I've never been able to light any kind of gasoline with a lit smoke. Yes, I have tried. All in the name of science, of course. And before I gave it up I worked on a lot of airplanes with cigarettes. I also gave up smoking, too.

 

[RipCurl]

I'd agree with the rest... just a joke.

However, it does happen.

 

[nosehair]

To all the folks who subscribe to the idea that smoking near an airplane won't blow it up:

Landing an airplane off centerline and crabbing a little won't crash it.

Wallowing away from the runway on take-off won't crash it, as long as you don't hit trees or towers.

Not doing a good preflight and run-up probably won't cause a crash.

....and on and on, I could list a thousand things that we do to prevent accidents that would probably not be a direct cause of a crash...

So whynhell do we do such things?


Because once in a while, maybe one in a thousand, it is a direct or contributing facor in accident causes....

....but more importantly, the discipline we practice when in and around airplanes and the airport is what puts us in the mindset of being extra careful. That's why we have such an excellent accident rate. That's why it is more dangerous to be in a car on the road than in any airplane.

We go the extra mile in observing extra safety.

 

[svcta]

I'm not saying that the concept should be disregarded as a matter of course. Simply that it doesn't present the danger most people think it does. There is a lot more science behind it than not doing a preflight, or crabbing a little, etc. I've seen people freak out when they see smokers around aiplanes; and knee-jerk reactions bother me. The facts behind why your airplane won't be blown up by a smoker(ever, face it) are interesting. I think.