High schoolers at Hudson program get pilots licenses

HUDSON, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Amid a national pilot shortage, a program here in Upstate New York aims to fill that gap by training pilots younger than usual.

High school seniors at one of many Questar III Boces locations have done the real have flown planes all by themselves at just 16 and 17 years old. 

A simulator at their Hudson location bounces and rocks to mimic turbulence. With his hand to the controls, high school senior and licensed pilot Nicholas Rutenauer operated a maze of neon buttons and navigated through simulated turbulence.

“It's definitely scary but it's kind of fun if you know…like…what to do in the situation," said Rutenauer.

As you can imagine it would be a lot for anyone, much less a teenager, to solo pilot an airplane. “I mean it's really indescribable. I mean you're by yourself, you've got to trust your instincts that you know what you do that you were trained right" said Germantown Highschooler, Adele Heuer, 17.

Adele is one of only two girls in this class of 13. It’s reflective of the industry as a whole. The International Society of Women Airline Pilots says that only 6 percent of pilots in the world are women. 

“It makes me feel good. You know me and Adele were the first people to get our pilot's licenses in this class and I think that's really empowering for women and it teaches other girls around that you can do it you know even in the mail-dominated field" said Anastasia Marcy,17 a licensed private pilot.

Many of these students will go on to get their commercial pilots license or join the military. As aviation teacher Radek Wyrzykowski says training young pilots will fill a current void. “Official predictions are that by year 2030 we're going to have a 30,000 pilot shortage," said Radek Wyrzykowski.

The teacher attributes this to retirements during COVID, and travel picking back up before rehiring could begin. This free program gives pilot access to local students who may otherwise not be able to afford it. 

“Flying is unfortunately an expensive thing. The cost of the training here is an equivalent of roughly $25,000 per student" said Wyrzykowski.

If your student is interested in joining this program they can talk to their school's counselor.