Top Pilot Training Interview Questions

Top Pilot Interview Questions

We have listed of the largest bank of pilot interview questions on the web! Together with our own personal experiences as well as help from various major airlines in Canada as well as all over the world our list is guaranteed to help you succeed at your next pilot interview. You will find a large selection of questions from technical, to behavioural, to human resources type questions.

The first set of questions is a list of typical human resource type questions with a few technical and situational types mixed in to give a realistic approach to interviews.

1. Tell us about yourself?2. What can you bring to this company?3. Have you ever had an Emergency?4. How did you deal with it?5. How did you get started in Aviation?6. Who has been your role model, or who has had the most influence on you?7. What goals do you have?8. What are some goal's that you had that were never achieved, and how did you deal with it?9. Where do you see yourself in 10 year's?10. What is your greatest accomplishment?11. How would you fly this SID?12. We see, your flying various types of aircraft for different companies, how will you feel about

coming to work here and just flying one type of aircraft. Will it become monotonous, boring?13. We have a 5:30am check-in every morning, how do you feel about that?14. You notice your Capt. drinking before a flight, how will you handle this?15. You are talking to the Capt., and you smell alcohol. Although you didn't see him drinking, what

would you do?16. Can you brief this approach? (Usually the airline will get you to brief an approach which is on

their company route system so make sure you review all their destinations )17. Define V1?18. I see your flying various twin engine airplane`s, do they all have a critical engine?

Which one's do not, and why?19. Define Balanced Field Length?20. You find yourself flying with an arrogant Captain, and you have a real personality clash, how do

you deal with this?21. What is the most difficult decision that you have had to make? Aviation or non-aviation related?

What did you learn from it?22. Discuss a bad situation which you managed to turn around?23. If you could no longer fly due to medical reasons; what would you do?24. Besides good pay why do you want to be a professional pilot?25. Most people have a person in their lives that influenced their career. Who was your mentor?26. What event in your life caused you to feel the way you do about aviation and flying?27. What are some of the limitations of your aircraft and yourself?

28. How would you rate yourself in relation to communication skills, dependability, and integrity? 1-10

29. If you attain all your goals as a professional pilot what do you intend to give back to aviation?30. Why do you want to work for us?31. What do you know about our company?32. How did you get into aviation / how did you become a pilot?33. What do you like / dislike about your present job?34. Have you ever failed a PPC?35. Does your boss know you are here?36. Describe a time when you had to sell an idea to a team.37. What will the biggest challenge be for you seating in the right seat?38. How do you feel about seating in the right seat for 10 years?39. How will you survive on our starting salary in City X?40. Tell us about your career to date and the positions you held.41. Tell us an example of a satisfying work experience.42. Have you ever failed a medical?43. Have you ever had to take control of an aircraft from a First Officer?44. Have you ever attempted to train anyone that was untrainable?45. Describe a time when you went above and beyond your job description.46. Have you ever been unprepared for a flight?47. Why do you want to work for XYZ Airline?48. Why should we hire you?49. Why would you be good at XYZ Airline?50. What do you think the toughest part of the transition to Airline XYZ will be?51. Do you think you have the skills to fly a jet?52. Why do you want to leave your present job?53. Describe your daily life at your present job54. What do you do to prepare for a flight?55. What is your goal before a flight?56. What is the most important part of your job at wherever you work?57. What is the most difficult part of your job at wherever you work?58. What was the most fun job you ever had?59. Why did you become a pilot?60. How did you pay for your flight training and/or school?61. Do you have any secondary duties at your current job? Why or why not?62. If your spouse were sitting here, what would they say is your biggest weakness?63. Have you applied anywhere else? What if you receive another job offer, which job will you take?64. Have you flown on our airline before?65. Where have you gotten the majority of the information you know about our airline? Has it all

come from the internet?66. What are some of the negative things you've heard about our airline?67. Why do you think you would fit in well at our airline?

68. What are some destinations that our airline flies to?69. What types and numbers of aircraft comprise the fleet? What types of engines?70. What aircraft are on order?71. What makes you think you will enjoy flying long haul or short haul?72. Tell me something about yourself that we cannot decipher from your resume or application? 78.

What is one quality/personality trait, given the chance, you would change about yourself? 79.How would you describe yourself in one word?

73. When was the last time you had an FAA or TC inspector on board and how did it go?74. Name a time you helped a customer?75. Define SOPs? Have you ever broken SOPs? When? Why?

Situational and Behavioural type Interview Questions

Below you will find a list of 75 Situational and Behavioural type interview questions. This type of interview approach has become very popular and the majority of your interview will consist of these type of questions. Makes sure you prepare for these questions by practicing your answers to ensure you portray consistent and confident responses.

1. The Capt. continues an approach below minimums, he informs you that he's shot this approacha 1,000 times and knows the area. What will you do?

2. You notice your Capt. drinking before a flight, how will you handle this?3. You are talking to the Capt., and you smell alcohol. Although you didn't see him drinking, what

would you do?4. You smell smoke in the cockpit, what initial action should you take?5. The Captain informs you the smoke is normal and it will clear itself. 15 minutes later the

condition is growing worse. The Captain gives you the same response.. now, what would youdo?

6. The aircraft is loaded way beyond gross weight, the Captain informs you that he does this all thetime, and the aircraft will fly. What do you do?

7. You find yourself flying with an arrogant Captain, and you have a real personality clash, how doyou deal with this?

8. Your aviation career although progressing nicely is happening very slowly. How do you feelabout this situation?

9. Discuss a bad situation which you managed to turn around?10. You are the PIC on one of our airplanes, you are taking off on a 13,000' runway with clear skies

and unlimited visibility, upon getting airborne you have an emergency and the co-pilot call's outthat there's a problem. With 11,000 feet of runway still in front of you, and the gear still down,what would you do?

11. Tell us a time when you made a mistake and what did you learn from it?12. Tell us a time when outside factors influenced you at work?13. Have you ever had a conflict with a fellow pilot? How did you resolve that situation?14. Describe a time when you would have liked to see more out of the managers in

your company?15. Tell us a time when you were EITHER satisfied or dissatisfied with the company

that you work for?16. Have you ever had a personality conflict with somebody you worked with?17. Name a time when you and an F/O butted head18. Have you ever had a personality conflict with somebody you worked with?19. Name a time when there was tension in the cockpit20. Name a time when you were at fault and took the blame for it.21. Name a time when you made a mistake22. Have you ever had to take control from somebody?23. Has anyone ever had to take control from you?

24. Name a time when you had to discipline somebody25. Name a time when you had to turn down a flight26. Name a time when you rushed into something?27. Name a time when you had to confront somebody for breaking the law or a regulation or a

procedure28. Name a time when your piloting skills came into play29. Tell me a time when you had to get a group of people to do something they refused to do.30. Have you ever had to force and issue?31. Have you ever had to motivate or diffuse a group in order to achieve a goal?32. Tell me a time when you had to persuade a group to do something they didnt want to do33. Have you ever let the pressure get to you?34. Name a time when you worked as a team and didnt accomplish your goal35. Where do you see me in 5 years? 10 Years?36. Tell me about a time a pilot was pissed off with you. How did you deal with him/her? And what

were the results?37. You land on a wet runway, auto-brakes applied and reversers deployed, and the airplane starts

to skid. What do you do and why?38. You are flying between Hong Kong and Anchorage when it become apparent under the present

conditions that you will land below the minimum fuel required by regulations. What will you do?39. Tell me a time when you witnessed a crewmember do something unsafe?40. Tell us about a time you had to use your leadership skills to resolve a problem?41. On the descent, your captain drops below the glide slope. As FO. You bring it to his attention. He

doesnt respond to you or take corrective action. What should you do?42. You are the FO. Your Captain shows up with what seems to be the smell of liquor on his breath.

What would you do? Why? Other options?43. A thunderstorm is moving in and approaching the end of the runway. Your captain is continuing

on the approach to the same runway. What would say/do? Why?44. How would you handle a situation where your captain didnt seem to like you?45. What would you do if your captain was performing nonstandard but not unsafe maneuvers?46. You notice that your captain is not following the checklist. You bring it to his attention. He tells

you he doesnt need to follow it he knows it. What would you do? While in cruise, he startsreading a flight magazine. Should you say anything?

47. Under what circumstances do you feel an FO would be justified in taking control of the aircraft(in flight) away from the captain?

48. If your captain showed up for your flight in a very bad mood, what would you do? Why?49. Tell us about a time when you contributed to the well- being of the team? How did you do it?

What was the end result?50. Tell us about a time you had to give a specific set of instructions that had to be followed to get

the job done?

51. Tell us about a time you had to correct a problem a customer had. How did you correct it? Whatwas the end result?

52. Tell us about a time you saw an unsafe procedure and what did you do about it?53. Tell us about a time you went on a fact-finding mission to get the job done?54. Name a time you spent a significant amount of time helping another crewmember?55. Name a time you had to make an unpopular decision? What was it? What was the impact?56. Name a time you had to convince someone to change his or her mind or course of action? How

did you go about it?57. Name a time you had to deal with a technical problem in the aircraft?58. Name a time you came up with a new idea at work?59. Name a time you had to deal with an unethical crewmember? How did you go about it60. Name a time you had to deal with a crewmember NOT getting a long? What did you do about it?61. Name a time you had to stand your ground and voice your opinion, even though you knew it

would not be a popular one?62. Name a time you demonstrated leadership qualities?63. Define customer service?64. Name a time you made a mistake?65. Name a time you used decisiveness in your role as a pilot?66. Name a time you saved the company money?67. Name a time you had to go above and beyond the call of duty?68. Describe a time in which you felt it was necessary to modify or change your actions to respond

to the needs of another person?69. Name a time in your last job when you contributed to creating a team environment?70. Name a time you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates at work?71. Name a time you used common sense to complete a task even though the procedure may have

been telling you to do it a different way?72. Name a time you supported a decision even though you may not have agreed with it?73. Name a time you had to keep the energy or enthusiasm up in the crew? How did you go about

it?74. How do you deal with complacency?75. Name a time the Flight Attendant felt comfortable enough to raise an issue with you?

Technical Interview Questions

We have gathered a list of 100 technical questions that have come up during pilot interviews. From Cathay Pacific to Air Canada you are guaranteed to find at least ten of these questions on your next pilot interview.

1. What are katabatic winds?2. What is washout?3. What does CAVOK mean?4. What things are associated with a mountain wave?5. What are the inputs to a GPWS?6. Deviation changes due to what?7. What is the relationship between TAS, Mach number, and Speed of Sound in an equation?8. QNH set to 989 instead of 998. What will the error be?9. What is the definition of a wet runway in mm of water?10. What is the difference in ground-looping tendencies between a tail dragger and tricycle gear?11. Define induced drag?12. Define parasite drag?13. Draw a drag curve?14. Where is Max Range on the drag curve?15. Where is long range cruise? What is the difference?16. What do winglets do?17. Why doesn't the 777 have winglets?18. What is EPR vs. IEPR?19. How would the aircraft performance change if you were over-flying a typhoon?20. What would be some considerations if you were landing in a typhoon?21. What is wind shear?22. How would you brief for wind shear?23. How would you identify wind shear? Does your current aircraft have wind-shear detection? How

does it work?24. What is the tropopause?25. What happens to Mach as you climb? What about IAS?26. What does ITCZ stand for?27. How does the ITCZ affect weather?28. What does EGPWS stand for?29. What are the inputs to EGPWS?30. What is the benefit of wing sweep? Disadvantages?31. What is wing twist? Why do we have it?32. What is Mcrit?33. Where does the high speed shockwave form first on the wing? Where will airflow go supersonic

first on the 747-400?34. What is dutch roll?

35. How do we correct for dutch roll?36. What is a critical engine?37. Which engine on the 747-400 is critical?38. What is Vmcg?39. What are factors that affect Vmcg?40. What is the relationship between V1 and Vmcg?41. What are the types of hydroplaning? How can you calculate hydroplaning speed? What is the

hydroplaning speed on your current aircraft?42. What is the formula for lift?43. What is the cross-wind limit for your aircraft? What does this mean?44. If the runway heading is 035, what is the reciprocal heading?45. If the runway heading is 040 and you have a crosswind of 100/20, what is your crosswind

component?46. Assume we are cruising at FL380 and we wish to descend to Kunming (elevation 5000'). The

aircraft travels 3nm for every 1000ft of descent, and we wish to leave 15nm before arriving atKunming for the aircraft to slow down. How far before Kunming is the TOD?

47. Draw a jet engine on the whiteboard and explain how it works.48. Coming back to the previous question about descending into Kunming. If we use spoilers and it

gives us a 50% decrease on the distance the aircraft travels per 1000ft descent, and it improvesaircraft deceleration by 50%. What is the new TOD?

49. Why does an airliner fly at high altitudes?50. What is International Standard Atmosphere?51. What is the weight of air?52. What are the dimensions of a localizer?53. How many satellites in the GPS constellation?54. How many are needed to triangulate your position?55. What is their orbital altitude?56. Does GPS use CA or P?57. How is Moderate and Severe turbulence defined?58. When are you required to report it?59. Define RVOP?60. Define LVOP?61. What are the standard alternate weather minima requirements?62. How much terrain clearance does the Minimum Sector Altitudes give you in designated

mountainous areas?63. Are you able to use an alternate with a GPS approach only?64. If yes what are the conditions which need to be met?65. Describe the Approach ban limits for 705 operators?66. What are the stabilized approach criteria?67. If on approach on a clear CAVOK day and a predictive wind shear warning occurs, what would

you do?68. What corrections do you do when in very cold weather?

69. Define MOCA?70. Define MEA?71. Describe the characteristics of a High Pressure Region?72. What is the bounced landing recovery procedure?73. What is the base of the Arctic Control Area?74. How long will ATC protect the Alternate aerodrome for an aircraft with a COMM failure?75. Describe the function of vortex generators?76. What is a hung start?77. What causes a compressor stall?78. What is viscous hydroplaining?79. You are in the Jetstream and the temperature is constant, the best way to avoid turbulence is

to?80. If the temperature to the southeast is warmer than to the northwest, the wind would be from

which direction?81. Describe the purpose of leading edge flaps?82. Define TAS?83. When is DME error the greatest?84. Calculate reception range of a VOR?85. What is the max holding speed of a propeller driven aircraft in a holding pattern?86. How does the Centre of Gravity of an airplane affect airplane range?87. Define Cold Soaking?88. What is negative torque sensing?89. Describe the factors which affect the increase in VMC?90. Can our aircraft be de-iced with type II and IV fluids?91. Describe a simple hydraulic system?92. How does weight affect an aircraft`s maneuvering speed?93. Describe our climate in Western Canada?94. What is a contact approach?95. Why is a turboprop most efficient at medium altitudes and turbojet/turbofan at high altitudes?96. At what temperatures is icing most severe?97. How does ice affect an airplane inflight?98. What are the speed limitations below 10 000 feet?99. Define CAS?100. Define Vref?

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