The recommendation came from the investigation of a crash on
July
19, 2006, that killed a 16-year-old student who had logged 15 hours and
was
on his second solo flight. Just before he touched down at Southend
Airport,


In may very well be a good idea and, as several contributors have pointed
out, it is commonly done by both civil and military flight schools.

However, in my none too humble opinion, it has nothing whatsoever to do
with
the cited accident--in which the student pilot's status was presumably
well
known. And, of course, it is phrased as though someone would like to see
it
become a regulation.

(rant temporarily witheld)



I agree. When I made student solos to unfamiliar controlled fields I used
'student' after my call. It wasn't required, but I felt better knowing that
the controller might think twice before handing me anything unusual.

At my home field, which is uncontrolled, a high percentage of the traffic is
student traffic and I don't think the extra chatter of 'Student' in all the
pattern calls would help much.