Flight School Security Awareness Training for Aircraft and Simulators

October 26, 2004
Scenarios – Flight Training Center with Simulators

Question
You observe that one of your students is perspiring excessively and has excessive nervous energy. He is sweating through his shirt and occasionally lets out nervous laughter. This is unusual because he does not seem to be in a stressful situation as he is just sitting in the lounge area.

Answer
Your first response should be to question the individual. Many things may be attributed to such physiological conditions and the observed human behavior. Extreme perspiration and/or nervousness are but two such factors. In most cases these are perfectly normal responses to new situations, stress, and even to a learning environment. In some cases, they can also be indicators of more serious conditions, i.e., medical or psychological. The only way you will be able to determine if these types of reactions are normal for the individual is to question them. Determine whether or not the student is ill. You may also want to ask if this is a normal response for them in similar situations, it may even be that it is a physiological trait. Additionally, you may want to inform a supervisor or consult with co- workers and other instructors about the noted behavior to determine if similar observations have been made. These “behaviors” may be beyond the student’s control; they may be benign, especially if it is a “written test” or “check ride” day; or they may truly be indicators that the student is concealing motives and/or intentions. Again, these behaviors will need to be compared to other indicators and student actions before a conclusion can be drawn.

Question
An individual who is in-between lessons approaches you at the customer service center. He asks you some questions about future lessons but he appears very agitated. You try to answer his questions but he snaps at you and constantly interrupts you. Something is obviously bothering him.

Answer
Your first response should be to question the individual. In this scenario, the first order of business is to determine what is bothering the student. Their response(s) to your questions will help you determine if the training should continue, be rescheduled for a later date/time, or if you need to inform your supervisor or contact your local law enforcement agency because the situation is more volatile then first suspected. When questioning the individual, questions and/or questioning techniques should be directed at the exhibited behavior deemed suspicious or questionable. It could be the individual is just having a bad day, i.e., students own frustration based on their personal assessment of their ability and performance, feeling like they’ve reached a learning plateau, just a bad training day, etc.

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