My student tried to end us, literally!

Posted by TheOvercookedFlyer@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 511 comments

TL;DR: Student, who isn't keen on me, pulled the mixture mid-flight. I saved it. We landed. He never flew with me nor with anyone else in my flight school.

Apologies for the click-baity title but I could think of a better one.

Yesterday I was flying a routine pattern with a student I’d been working with for a few weeks, one who had made it fairly clear through attitude and body language that I wasn’t their favorite instructor. Still, I approached every lesson with the same professionalism, hoping to build trust through consistency and safety.

We were on the downwind leg for the runway as usual, abeam the numbers, just beginning to discuss the pre-landing checklist just like we did before many times in preparation for his solo flight. I was mid-sentence about configuring for landing when I noticed his hand abruptly go for the mixture and said "I'd like to see you recover from this!" and before I could react, he pulled it all the way out.

The engine sputtered instantly. I took control immediately and pushed the mixture back in while simultaneously verifying throttle and carb heat. The engine caught again, thankfully without issue. I stayed calm, kept the aircraft flying, and executed a quick approach to land.

I asked him, calmly but firmly, “Why did you pull the mixture?”

He shrugged and muttered something about “wanting to see what would happen.” I knew better it wasn’t curiosity; it was deliberate!

We landed safely, taxied back, and I quickly got out of thr airplane and fast walked to our chief pilot's office. A colleague met me halfway because he saw having engine issues, I briefly explained what happened and he confronted the student. Obviously he denied everything.

After we all cooled down, the student, our CFI, my colleague and I sat down in his office and while at first he denied everything, it didn't take long to confess that he did do it on purpose because he was tired of being instructed what do to, and I kid you not, especially from a woman.

He was promptly dismissed from the school and flagged as well. Never in my life would I have though something like this happen. I'm OK now and fortunately the weather is awful today and tomorrow so it will give me a chance to decompress and regroup. I'm just venting a bit here because I know most of you will understand.