Reducing student anxiety

For a new flight student, a complex aircraft and experienced instructor can be intimidating to say the least. The fear of the unknown is one emotion that rides high in the early days of flight training. Since it is these first days of instruction that are critical to convincing a new flight student that flying is really where they want to be, it is important to have a few tricks up your sleeve to make that student feel comfortable. The anxieties that all new students feel are not entirely foreign to flight instructors and other pilots, but as we get farther and farther away from our own early training experiences, the ability to empathize with the new student becomes harder. It is for this reason that a review of techniques for reducing student anxiety is carried out from time to time.

One of the major factors that creates anxiety in a student is the appearance of incompetence. While incompetence may seem a harsh word, if the flight instructor does not know what he or she is doing, and the student is aware of that fact, then the students’ faith in the instructors’ ability is severely undermined. While some pilots are quite skilled at hiding or masking incompetence, most newer, less experienced instructors will not have mastered that art. Since we are generally aware of our own weak areas, it is important to strive for improvement so that our weaknesses do not become the students’ weaknesses. In any event, the competent flight instructor will instill more comfort in the new student. Perfection in instruction is not necessarily what we’re promoting since all of us make mistakes from time to time. Rather, we should be sure to acknowledge our mistakes instead of covering them up or rationalizing them to our students. One good analogy to understand how a new student feels in the company of an incompetent instructor is to consider a technician defusing a bomb; if they fumble around and don’t seem quite sure of themselves, the innocent bystander is not likely to feel terribly comfortable standing next to the bomb. Remember that new students rely on the flight instructors’ expertise and skill, and anything that detracts from that will cause anxiety.

In general, fear of the unknown may cause much anxiety and should be acknowledged early in any training program. There are two components to this fear: the instructor, and the aircraft. While the aircraft itself may not pose much of a threat, the anticipation of manoeuvres to be performed in that aircraft may cause a good deal of anxiety. For this reason, flight instructors need to take great care in their explanations of manoeuvres, procedures, and sensations that can be expected by the student. For example, the wording used during the discussion of a new manoeuvre (perhaps stalls for example) should be carefully worded so that no misunderstandings occur. A frequent phrase we hear when instructors discuss stalls is "then as the aircraft stalls, one wing will usually drop off." You can imagine how a new student might feel if they don’t understand that the wing doesn’t actually "drop off." Words that seem common place and natural to an experienced aviator may be entirely inappropriate in a first discussion with a new student pilot. Choose your words carefully! In addition, the proper order to introduce new manoeuvres should follow the building block method of learning. For example, starting with stalls and spin recovery training is not appropriate if the student has not mastered the basic manoeuvres (e.g., straight and level, turns, climbs and descents). As a student builds confidence with the basic manoeuvres, they will be ready for a new challenge and at that point, the introduction of more complex manoeuvres is suggested.

Sometimes a student just can’t seem to "loosen" up. The "bundle of nerves" type of student has an emotional hurdle of some sort to get over and it’s the flight instructors’ obligation to help. The solution to these types of problems with beginning students is seldom obvious or easy, but there are a couple of steps one can take to get the problem resolved. First, find out if the student is willing to discuss their apprehensions with you. If so, you may find that some simple ground discussions may alleviate their fears and resolve the in-flight jitters they experience. Outside stressors are always bad and a new flight student will be particularly affected by stress since their flight skills are still undeveloped. In this case, try to coach the student to leave their stress at home, or to take a break from flying until their stress is lower. One other trick to make a student more comfortable in the aircraft is to take them flying outside of a regularly scheduled flight lesson. This gives them the opportunity to observe you in action and develop a new perspective on the task of flying. The non-instructional environment is also more relaxed for the student and they may actually learn better under this reduced pressure atmosphere.

Those of us who give check flights or examinations will attest to the anxiety that some applicants have about taking the check flight. The fear of evaluation is not all that uncommon, and many people suffer for several days prior to their check flights. Some applicants are so nervous that their performance is detrimentally affected to the point of failing the flight. Our advice to those of you who give these sorts of check flights, as well as instrument proficiency check flights, etc., is to socialize some with the applicant prior to the flight. We’re not suggesting that you should divert the student’s attention from the flight to the point that they forget what they’re supposed to be doing, but rather to take a few minutes to divert the student’s attention away from their nerves. A few simple questions from the examiner about the applicant’s plans after they get their flight rating or even some other non-flying topic helps to "break the ice" and ease the student’s anxiety. Anything you can do to help the student realize that you’re not busy crafting some devious plan to help them fail their check flight will also help.

Hopefully these tips will be helpful to all of you who provide flight instruction or examinations to flight students. We can make flight training a truly enjoyable experience, even for those who have reservations about flying, if some forethought is given to how students react to new situations, new stimuli, and a new flight instructor. Careful planning, preflight discussion, proper wording, and some empathy for the student who is just beginning their adventure in learning to fly will help keep anxiety low and keep the student coming back for more!