Why did they fail?
Or... what not to do on a check ride!
Perfection is not the standard!
We say “perfection is not the standard” and mean it. 100% of candidates would fail if they were expected to answer every question correctly and perform every maneuver flawlessly. That’s never the case. The vast majority of disapproval's occur because of obvious and egregious errors. Here are a few common reasons why candidates weren't even eligible to start a test or reasons I have needed to print a Notice of Disapproval;
Why was I not eligible?
As a reminder, the candidate is still responsible for the test fee regardless of eligibility or the outcome. So you may want to double check with your recommending CFI that everything is in order. Some of the eligibility mistakes I regularly witness include;
- Day flights run over into night flights and the “night landing” gets counted for eligibility. Unfortunately, there was no accompanying night “takeoff” and therefore no takeoff and landing pair. (If your day turns to night on a training flight, record the day time, then on a separate entry on the logbook enter the night. Keep it clean and keep it simple.)
- Cross countries are not “at least” or “more than” the required minimum distance. (If your destination airport is 50.1 miles away, shoot the lock off the wallet and find another one at 55 miles. No one can dispute 55 is more than 50.)
- Several trips in the traffic pattern are conducted at the cross-county destination airport. This is “pattern work” and not cross country time and will be deducted from the overall cross-country total. This often times makes the entire cross country flight ineligible. (Log the XC flight out, then on a separate line log the pattern work, then on a seperate line log the return flight. The pattern work is not to go in the cross country column of your logbook.)
- Candidates do not bring and present required ground logs and flight logs per the regulations. (ALL practical tests per part 61 require GROUND logs for both the aeronautical knowledge AND the ground training for the flight portions. ex 61.105/61.107 or 61.125/61.127, 61.65(b)/61.65(c))
- Student pilots do not have a current 61.87 solo endorsement. (You are PIC on the flight and therefore must be endorsed to act as pilot in command on the day of the test.)
- Medical certificates have been cut off and no longer have the “Conditions of Issuance” attached, thereby making the medical invalid. ("Fold" and "Cut" are two seperate things. Do not cut off the Conditions of Issuance!)
- Commercial applicants take their friends on their long cross country. This must be solo or with a CFI only!
- Commercial applicants simply add up their night takeoff and landings but include those not at airports with an operating control tower.
- Commercial applicants take their CFI on their cross country and then conduct night flights solo. It’s either/or. You cannot combine solo times and times you act as PIC with an instructor on board per 61.129.
1 of 3 5/23/23, 9:02 PM
Scott Rohlfing
- Commercial applicants do not have their 10 hours of 61.129(a)(3)(i) instrument training logged properly. Holding an instrument rating does NOT make you exempt from this 10 hour 61.129(a)(3)(i) requirement.
Why did I fail?
- OK here it is. The #1 reason why private pilots fail on the flight test... Not making the decision to go around before landing hundreds of feet beyond the specified tolerances on normal or short field landings or even worse, landing short! (I don’t understand this... if you are floating hundreds of feet beyond the 100/200/or 400 foot limitation or it appears you will land short, why not go around? This is 100% avoidable. I had a tailwheel candidate once ask seconds before landing short, “Is it okay if I land short?” I replied, “Only if you want to fail.”)
- And the #1 reason why applicants fail on the orals... the areas of deficiency on their written test have not been resolved per the endorsement received from their CFI. Applicants! This is a special emphasis area. DPE's "must" test on this and you "must' be knowledgeable on the areas you weren't sure of on your written test. It will end in a Notice of Disapproval every time. Be familiar with the ACS appendix requirements which require DPE's to test the areas missed on the written test.
- Not being able to even remotely land safely in their selected landing area during a simulated emergency approach and landing. (Sorry folks no go arounds on this one! Generally candidates fall short. Practice these, forget the practical test, it may save your life someday.)
- Not being able to operate equipment on board the aircraft including autopilots, GPS, VOR receivers, audio panels, etc. (You MUST know how to operate ALL the equipment on board your aircraft. I once asked a candidate over the roar of engine noise if he could turn up the squelch on the intercom. He said, “What’s that?” On another flight I asked the candidate to engage the autopilot. He said, “I’ve never used it before and I’m not going to try it now.”)
- Inability to tune, identify, track to/from or intercept a VOR radial. (Common error is reverse sensing or flying 180’ in the wrong direction.)
- Diversions that take twenty minutes to make a reasonable estimate of heading, distance, time and fuel. Or the applicant descends well beyond the 200 foot ACS tolerance while staring at their laps looking for information while ALL the required data is starring them in the face on the panel mounted GPS! (Diversion calculations should take seconds, not minutes. Practice this, forget the practical test, it may save your life someday.)
- Doing a “screaming power dive” into a traffic pattern, cutting off other traffic while broadcasting on the wrong CTAF frequency. Yes, this happened on more than one occasion. (Stay clear of the airport, form your plan, pay attention to other traffic and proceed conservatively and safely.)
- Never rolling out of a steep turn after three revolutions. Yes, this happened. And more than one failure has happened when candidates are staring at the instruments during a steep turn rather than outside the window. (G1000 drivers beware!
The PFD is not a window.)
- Starting the aircraft and beginning to taxi, with absolutely no idea of how much fuel was onboard. Or better yet, climbing into the aircraft without enough fuel to conduct the 1.5-2.0 hour flight test. (OK so this things only happened once, but they were classic.)
- I would hate to count the number of Instrument candidates that have no idea how to apply FAR 91.185 regarding two-way radio comm failure. They all can recite the regulations, but can’t apply them when given a lost comm scenario. Hint: Learn what is meant by your "clearance limit."
- Several Instrument candidates have received a Notice of Disapproval as a result of “following the magenta line.” (“What? I’m 3/4 scale deflection? No look how close the little airplane is to the line!”)
- Several Instrument candidates have failed during a circle to land. They reach MDA, begin the circle, and then proceed to climb to the stars, or loose visual contact with the airport environment.
- And one more Instrument favorite... unsuccessful candidates think that fuel calculations to their alternate are at full speed DIRECTLY from the MAP to the runway at the alternate. Really? No missed? No hold? No IAP and IAF at the alternate? Then when they realize and plan correctly they realize they just ran out of fuel or didn't have required minimal fuel even after they told me how "conservative" they are in fuel calculations.
- Commercial candidates are about 50/50 on their ability to successfully perform the Power-Off 180 to ACS tolerance (Sorry, no go arounds on this one either.)
I will update this page as trends emerge or interesting disapproval's pop up.