Stress may negatively affect the timely completion of a student pilot's flight training. A student pilot influenced by stress may be subject to what is known as “falling behind the aircraft,” a condit..
Stress may negatively affect the timely completion of a student pilot's flight training. A student pilot influenced by stress may be subject to what is known as “falling behind the aircraft,” a condition that constantly requires minor interventions from their flight instructor. This lack of situational awareness and decreased performance may inadvertently cause the student pilot to repeat the flight lesson, increasing the time spent in the training course. For collegiate flight students, the challenge is even greater as they must balance their life, academics, and flight training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact stress has on collegiate flight students pursuing a private pilot certificate. Through survey data, it was found that age, employment status, and flight training certifications are factors that affect flight training completion time. As a result, future research may be attempted to predict the completion time of the private pilot course based on quantitative operations to measure stress. Additional research could also test the effectiveness of new stress-mitigation programs to enhance and reduce flight training completion time for collegiate flight students.