Tower controller described an unauthorized 360 degree turn by a student pilot while in the traffic p...

Narrative:

A PA28 was inbound to enter left base and was advised of traffic to follow. After a minute or two of him not reporting the traffic in sight; I began to issue the position of the traffic and observed his target moving to the northwest. I asked him what he was doing and in reply he said; 'looking for traffic.' I then asked if he was doing a 360 to which he replied in the affirmative. I asked him to please never do a 360 again and if he thought he needed to; he needed to request it from the controller and not just do it without clearance. I'd recommend that FSDO look into these numerous occurrences and demand that the flight schools cease and desist such activities. These are common occurrences with our local flight school students. Every few weeks they unleash another batch of new solo students on us who have no clue what they are doing and shouldn't be without an instructor yet. It's only a matter of time before we have a mid-air. It's unacceptable.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described an unauthorized 360 degree turn by a student pilot while in the traffic pattern and ask to sight traffic; the reporter indicating student pilots are all to frequently released for solo flights before they are ready.

Narrative: A PA28 was inbound to enter left base and was advised of traffic to follow. After a minute or two of him not reporting the traffic in sight; I began to issue the position of the traffic and observed his target moving to the northwest. I asked him what he was doing and in reply he said; 'Looking for traffic.' I then asked if he was doing a 360 to which he replied in the affirmative. I asked him to please never do a 360 again and if he thought he needed to; he needed to request it from the Controller and not just do it without clearance. I'd recommend that FSDO look into these numerous occurrences and demand that the flight schools cease and desist such activities. These are common occurrences with our local flight school students. Every few weeks they unleash another batch of new solo students on us who have no clue what they are doing and shouldn't be without an instructor yet. It's only a matter of time before we have a mid-air. It's unacceptable.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	948201
Time
Date	201105
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Tower controller described an unauthorized 360 degree turn by a student pilot while in the traffic pattern and ask to sight traffic; the reporter indicating student pilots are all to frequently released for solo flights before they are ready.