Put a cork in it

They yell if the student messes up; they yell if the student doesn’t meet expectations; they yell if the student does something scary, such as retracting the flaps too quickly after a touch and go.

Yelling—hollering—screaming. No matter what you call it or when it occurs, it has no place in flight training.

Yelling has a long history in the military. Who hasn’t seen or perhaps personally endured a drill instructor screaming directly into the face of a recruit? To build a proper soldier from the ground up, you first have to tear him down with intimidation. That was the thought process. Flight instructors who came out of the military may have retained that mindset as they transitioned to civilian flying.

But here’s the thing: Not even the military supports screaming (or cursing or shoving recruits into walls) anymore. So if a flight instructor is excusing abusive tactics as an honorable military tradition, that’s no longer valid. And it’s harmful to flight students of all levels.

Yelling—hollering—screaming. No matter what you call it or when it occurs, it has no place in flight training.Consider this student’s comments on a pilot message board. “My instructor yells at me 80 percent of the time we fly. I was fine with it at first...But now I am feeling like I am really losing confidence. I am getting really nervous before I go fly with him. My knees are shaking. I am crying almost every time on the way back home.…My performance is influenced by this nervousness. I make a lot of mistakes with ATC, fixated, my feet on the rudder pedals start shaking.” And it’s worth noting that this is the experience of a private pilot working on an advanced rating.

So, after flying with the yelling instructor, the pilot has lost confidence, makes mistakes on the radio, and cries after the lesson. The flight instructor has succeeded in tearing down this pilot, but it doesn’t seem possible that he will build the pilot back up to any semblance of proficiency. Not when the pilot is literally shaking in the cockpit and crying after the lesson. Does this sound like a formula for long-term success?

Educators of children understand that, while yelling in the moment can be satisfying, it only harms. It harms the relationship between the child and the teacher, and it harms the child’s ability to learn in the moment. What’s more, a 2014 study cited by The New York Times found that yelling produces results similar to physical punishment in children: increased levels of anxiety, stress, and depression, along with an increase in behavioral problems.

If a student makes a mistake in the cockpit, correct it and say what you’re doing. Reteach the concept if necessary. Wait until the debrief for an extensive explanation of what went wrong and additional instruction. Don’t forget to praise the student for what he or she did well during the lesson. Then, if you need to, go home and scream into a pillow.

No need to take a public vow of “yellibacy.” (Thanks, Psychology Today.) But do remember before a lesson to run the IMSAFE checklist on yourself: Check for Illness, Medications, Stress, Alcohol use, Fatigue, or Emotional issues. You can’t give your best if you’re running on empty, and yelling can be a direct indicator that you are in danger of running out of fuel—physically or mentally. FT

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