Practice with the coach
Pick a question, look at a strong and a weak answer, then tell your own story. You'll get a score against the same six things a good board listens for, the top fixes, and your answer rebuilt in STAR order. Then go again.
What the coach scores (rubric v1.0.0)
- I, not we. Pass: You tell us what YOU did. 'I' carries the action; 'we' shows up only for the crew context. Miss: The story is all 'we' or 'they'. The board can't tell what you personally did.
- Action is the meat (~60%). Pass: Roughly 60% or more of the answer is your actions: what you said, checked, briefed, decided. Miss: Most of the time goes to setup and backstory. The action is a sentence or two at the end.
- Specific result + lesson. Pass: A concrete outcome (landed safely, number, what changed) plus what you learned or do differently now. Miss: The story just stops, or ends with something vague like 'it worked out'. No lesson.
- CRM / safety framing. Pass: You show crew coordination, communication, checklists/SOPs, or threat-and-error thinking. Miss: No sign of how you worked with the crew or managed the risk.
- Length (about 1–2.5 minutes). Pass: About 120–380 words: room for detail without rambling. Miss: Under ~80 words (too thin) or over ~480 (the board stops listening).
- No blame. Pass: You describe other people's actions neutrally and focus on what you controlled. Miss: You call someone out, assign fault, or make the other person the villain.
“Tell me about a time you disagreed with a captain or senior crew member.”
Generic practice example — not a question reported from any specific airline.
2a. A strong answer
Generic practice example — not a question reported from any specific airline.
On a Part 135 night run into Duluth, the forecast showed freezing drizzle moving in about an hour early. The captain wanted to press on to save the trip. I pulled up the latest METAR and the PIREPs and showed him two reports of moderate rime at our planned altitude. I said plainly that I wasn't comfortable continuing without a plan for the ice. I asked if we could brief an alternate before we got committed. I suggested Hibbing, which was VFR, and I ran the fuel numbers so he could see we had forty minutes of margin. He agreed to set it as the alternate and I briefed the divert. About twenty minutes later the field went below minimums and I coordinated with ATC for the reroute. As a result, we landed at Hibbing with fuel to spare and the passengers were on a van in thirty minutes. I learned to bring data, not opinions, and I now speak up early while there are still good options.
- I-not-we: every key move is 'I pulled', 'I asked', 'I ran the fuel numbers'.
- CRM framing: data-driven, assertive, offers an alternate instead of just saying no.
- Result + lesson: concrete outcome (40 minutes of fuel, divert landed) and a habit that changed.
2b. A weak answer
Generic practice example — not a question reported from any specific airline.
We had a captain who always wanted to push weather. It was a bad night and we were going to Duluth. He was honestly kind of reckless and it was his fault we got in that spot. We talked about it and decided to divert. It worked out fine in the end and nobody got hurt. I think communication is really important.
- Blame: 'his fault' and 'reckless' make the captain the villain.
- All 'we': the board can't tell what this pilot actually did.
- Vague ending: 'it worked out fine' with no detail and a stock lesson.