I know their was one accident over Georgia but generally atp seems to have a good record of safety. Is this true? Is the risk small in small airplane flying?
James,
ATP has a very good safety record, especially considering how large the flight school is. Sure, there have been mistakes, but we learn from them and move forward with new policies in place, just like the airlines do.
There is an inherent risk in flying small airplanes, but there is a risk in driving, or even walking down the road. Ironically enough for me, I was walking down a street in San Francisco nine years ago, I tripped over a curb and destroyed my ankle. Fast forward nine years and I have had two surgeries and am about to go in for my third. The point here is that anything can get you at anytime, even plain old walking.
Chris
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Thanks,
James,
While I agree with Chris that ATP has an excellent safety record, and yes there’s some risk in everything we do, flying a small plane is different. One of the definitions the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Authority, basically the FAA for the World) uses for pilots is a “risk manager”. If something goes wrong with your car, you simply pull over. Run low on fuel, pull into a gas station. Weather gets bad, again you can just stop. Big obstacle in front of you, step on the brakes. Not so in a small plane. You can’t just pull over, there are no brakes and no reverse. What that means is you must ALWAYS be well ahead of the airplane, always know where you are. always keep an eye on your systems and most important always have a place to land if you have to. Failure to do so will increase the risk considerably.
There’s a old very famous quote from the 1930’s that says "Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity, or neglect".
Adam
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James,
I just have one more thing to add. ATP was nationally recognized for its
commitment to safety last year.
https://atpflightschool.com/news/2016-04-22-nata-excellence-in-pilot-training-award.html
Tory
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I just wanted to ensure, is ATP Flight School safe? Is it safe when instructors at ATP train students on emergency descents, slow flight, and stalls? Did anyone get scared while practicing these maneuvers?
William
William,
ATP has been safely training pilots for careers at the airlines for over 35 years and has the largest (and one of the newest) training fleets in the industry all is which are meticulously maintained. All ATP instructors not only have all their FAA instructor certificates but also are required to go through ATP instructor certification and standardization training. Short answer is ATPs flight training is incredibly safe.
That said I can tell you for certain some students most definitely get scared flying in small training aircraft (and that’s not even doing manuevers). That however has nothing to do with ATPs safety but the individual’s own fears and comfort level. Most get comfortable once they begin to understand what’s happening and gain control themselves but not all. The fact is not everyone can or should be a pilot.
Adam
Hi William,
All CFI’s must instruct students to perform slow flight, stalls, emergency engine out, and emergency descents (commercial). It’s part of the ACS and all of these maneuvers must be performed as a part of your FAA administered check ride. It’s not just ATP instructors who train students on these maneuvers.
Alex
William,
While flying is inherently dangerous, ATP takes safety very serious. ATP takes pride in their program, Instructors, Maintenance and aircraft.
As I recall, ATP also requires that specific maneuvers be only conducted above a minimum altitude which adds an extra safety layer to ensure that maneuvers are not conducted close to the ground.
Some students have anxiety while performing maneuvers. It may take a few flights to get adjusted to the sensation. It may also require a better understanding of the maneuver, why it’s performed, and also a better understanding of the stability of the airplane.
Tory
William,
I would argue ATP is inherently safer than training at any local mom and pop school and I’ll tell you why. If you go to any local school looking for a CFI, you’re playing roulette on how safe that instructor will be. How close will they ride the minimum safety limits set by the FAA?
At ATP, there is the minimum limit for safety and then an extra buffer added through ATP policies and procedures. For example, you may be able to do steep turns 1500’ above the ground per the FAA but ATP requires not starting them below 3000’ AGL. So when you get in an airplane with an ATP instructor, there will always be an added layer of protection from safety limits.
-Hannah
I’m in the private phase at ATP and I will tell you I have never felt unsafe. The planes are very well maintained (we have an in house maintenance facility here at KCRG) and I doubt you get that at most other flight schools. We drill emergency procedures a lot. It feels like everything we do here at ATP is safety focused. There are risks to flying a single engine GA aircraft, but you are trained for any situation you might run into.
I just finished my maneuvers flights last week and I never felt unsafe at any point during them. I believe my instructor had me fly at 6,000 AGL to do stalls and emergency descent.
Also, I kinda think stalls get overhyped. The horn is a bit obnoxious but the actual stall wasn’t scary at all. I kinda thought the emergency descent was kinda fun…but I doubt I would be thinking that if I needed to actually do it because of an emergency.
James,
Like many have said, flying is inherently dangerous, but ATP has set policies and standards that all flights must be conducted within. For example, flights cannot depart local airports if the ceilings are below 1,000 feet and visibility less than 3 SM. Certain maneuvers have altitude restrictions that they must be completed by above ground recovery.
At ATP you will find well-maintained aircraft, and I will also point out on top of the aircraft already owned, ATP is taking delivery of over 30 brand new planes this spring/summer.
Maintainence is done in house, ATP has 13 locations of maintainence that all their planes go to for service, annuals, and small work. I’ve been flying in the Piper Archer since July 2020 and I haven’t had any issues or concerns about safety or well being of the airplane itself.
Brady
Does ATP Flight School only hire their students to be their flight instructors or will they hire students from other schools as well? Once I finish the 7 months of the Airline Career Pilot Program and graduate, can I become a flight instructor at ATP right away? Another question I have is that after graduating in 7 months, can I just go directly to being a pilot at a major commercial airline or is it required that I work as a flight instructor first before getting hired by the airlines?
William
Will,
ATP only hires their student instructors. I believe it is still not a guaranteed job. if offered a position you would go to Standardization and then be sent to your location to start instructing.
When I went through it was about a month (pre-covid). I believe it is now about a month or 2 process.
Chris F
William,
Generally speaking, ATP hires their own graduates. It simply makes sense to hire somebody that you know understands the program and the way ATP teaches pilots to fly.
Once you graduate the program, you can apply to be become an ATP instructor and if hired, will likely start rather soon. Being flexible with your location choice certainly helps.
The FAA requires airline pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight time, you will need to have that before applying to the airlines. At that point, you will apply to regional airlines and then spend several years building your experience before applying to the major airlines.
Chris
William,
As Chris said the FAA requires a pilot to build 1500hrs before they can fly for an airline.
I strongly recommend you visit the FAQ section of this forum as well as ATPs website (ATPflightschool.com). There you’ll find the answers to many common questions as well as outlines of the process to become an airline pilot.
Adam
Beyond training students engine shutoff, slow flight, stalls, and emergency descents, are ATP flight instructors required to train students on spin recovery maneuver as well? Do the instructors have to make the aircraft spin in the air and demonstrate to the students how to recover the spinning of the aircraft since I have seen this topic in my Airplane Flying Handbook as well. Did any one of you train for spin recovery before at ATP?
William
William,
Spin training is conducted during CFI school by a designated instructor. ATP’s spin training was the first spin training that I had received.
Once I began working as a CFI for ATP, I was not expected to teach my students to recover from a spin. Like I said, that training is provided by a designated instructor for students that are preparing for their CFI checkride.
Tory
William,
To become a CFI, you must undergo spin training. ATP students going through CFI school will have a one hour spin flight to practice spin recovery and get the associated logbook endorsement. That will be the extent of the spin training. CFI’s will educate their students on the ground about the proper recovery however knowing how spins can develop and avoiding them is the key.
-Hannah
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