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2 Answers

Retest after failed initial CFI

Asked by: 1236 views FAA Regulations

Who needs to sign you off to retake failed CFI initial exam. Does it have to be a the same 2 year CFI, can it be a different 2 year CFI, or can it be any CFI?

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2 Answers



  1. Jeff Baum on Oct 08, 2024

    “61.195 (2) Except for an instructor who meets the requirements of paragraph (h)(3)(ii) of this section, a flight instructor who provides training to an initial applicant for a flight instructor certificate must—

    (i) Meet the eligibility requirements prescribed in § 61.183 of this part;

    (ii) Hold the appropriate flight instructor certificate and rating;

    (iii) Have held a flight instructor certificate for at least 24 months; …”

    I would read this regulation to require, that for the initial CFI certificate, the recommending CFI would need to meet the 24 month requirement in (iii). The recommending CFI is still making a recommendation for an Initial CFI Certificate. I would not necessarily expect to see an endorsement for the retest to be the same CFI.

    So, I would expect that the recommending CFI would have complied with the 24 month requirement of 61.195(2), meets the definition of “an authorized instructor” in 61.49(a) and has completed the elements listed in endorsement A-73 listed in AC61-65.

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  2. KDS on Oct 08, 2024

    It never hurts to ask the person who will be administering the test what their thoughts are if you know in advance who will be doing it. Then take a route that agrees with both the regulations and that person’s opinion. It would be wonderful if every examiner and inspector knew with 100% accuracy every rule. But that isn’t the world in which we live. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where the examiner thinks what you did is not allowed even if the examiner is dead wrong.

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