Is it possible to fly after an accident?

[Pichi]

Hi !
I am a commercial pilot that had an accident two years ago, I guess I can say that it was in part my fault and in part a maintenace problem. A crack in the fuel tank, that I didn´t see, made me run out of fuel in the first 15 min of my intructing flight, I took off with full tanks so I didn´t realize I run out of fuel and the engine stopped. I landed in a field and the airplane was a total loss but both of us where fine. I need advice , you think I can get a job with the airlines after this or should I plan to do something else, I know that at the moment airlines are not hiring much, but Sholud I keep trying?

Thanks in advance.
Fly safe.

 

[banned username 2]

There are many pilots out there who have had accidents and are flying Professionally...

I don't think it's a show stopper...

Good Luck!

 

[100LL... Again!]

I see very little difference between your situation and one where an engine faills catastrophically.

Have any of us gone more than 15 without looking at the gas gauges? Or without looking over our shoulder to check if we're streaming fuel? I'll bet most of us have.

How did the FAA sum it up?
Show the proper attitude in an interview and you should be fine.

It's not like you crashed a perfectly good airplane by simply having poor airmanship. If it was up to me, I would not hold it against you if I was doing the hiring.

Best of Luck

 

[bobbysamd]

Hiring post-accident

The key is getting an interview. Companies want saints and you might be rejected out-of-hand because you admitted that you had an incident on your record.

Did the FAA violate you in any way? If so, you would have some explaining to do if you can get to an interview. If not, you still have to explain the incident fully and honestly.

I would recover all paperwork the incident generated, such as FAA files, your FAA airman record, police records, NTSB records. With these records in hand, you can formulate an answer if the question comes up. Of course, you have to take responsibility for the incident and state what you learned.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your job search.

 

[Wiggums]

Who does the NTSB blame for the accident?

 

[Pichi]

They blame me, but its a long story, the guy who did the investigation said that a lot of thing weren´t clear, but I guess It was my fault, I should have seen the crack on my prefiglht inspection, they said that it was pretty big, but on the record says pilot error.

And thanks everyone its helping me a lot to get back my courage to try to get a job. At least the FAA din´t do anything againts me, they even gave my MEI 6 months after my accident.

Fly safe.

 

[80/20]

Don't give up. It might just take you a bit longer. I have heard similar worries from several excellent pilots that have good jobs today.