# 2018-078 Careers, Pilot, Training failure

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-09-26

The grievor, a Helicopter Pilot trainee, failed a retest. The Progress Review Board (PRB) granted the grievor another attempt at the test on the condition that he consult a social worker and demonstrate sufficient progress during extra supplementary training. The grievor attended the required appointment, but subsequently failed to show improvement in skill in the required tasks and failed the course. The grievor argued that his first retest should be stricken from his record due to equipment failure, that the requirement to see a social worker led to skill fade, and that the PRB process had procedural fairness issues.

The Initial Authority (IA) denied the grievance, finding that the decision to cease the grievor's training was in accordance with applicable policy. The IA determined that the cause of the fault indications during the grievor's retest was attributed to his input to the controls. The IA acknowledged the training gap imposed on the grievor but noted that the grievor failed to show improvement on required tasks with the extra time granted.

The Committee found that the grievor received a favourable PRB outcome after his initial retest failure through the granting of additional training hours and noted that the referral to see a social worker was in the best interest of the grievor. The Committee found that the Canadian Armed Forces attempted to mitigate the training gap by having the grievor fly as soon as possible after being cleared by the social worker. The Committee noted that there were procedural fairness issues with the PRB process, but that these had been resolved through the grievance process. The Committee concluded that the grievor had expended all hours of training available under the training plan in effect, and that the decision to cease the grievor's training was justified and in accordance with policy.

FA decision summary

The Commander Royal Canadian Air Force, acting as Final Authority, agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendation not to afford the grievor redress.