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Duration of pilot certificates

Asked by: 2564 views FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

Many paper pilot certificates have already expired, or will expire no later than April 30, 2021. 14 CFR 61.19(g) throws in a date of March 31, 2010. What's the 2010 date all about???

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6 Answers



  1. KDS on Nov 02, 2019

    That is the date when PILOTS had to have plastic certificates to exercise the privileges of their certificate. There are many other types of FAA issued airman certificate and they had other run out dates.

    It was all part of the never-ending effort by Congress to solve problems that do not exist instead of ones that do. If we live long enough, we will see the day when our pilot certificates have our picture on it and the current one is no longer valid.

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  2. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 02, 2019

    From where did you get the April 20, 2021 date?

    61.19(g) does not mention expiration. It only says that you may not exercise the privileges of the paper certificate. You need to get a plastic replacement.

    The only paper certificates that expire are temporary certificates which expire 120 days after issue and paper student pilot certificates that expire when the medical certificate issued concurrently expires.

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  3. Gary S. on Nov 03, 2019

    KDS: I didn’t know the plastic ones replaced the old permanent paper ones on March 31, 2010. Thanks for clearing that up.

    Please bear with me. I’m trying to catch up

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  4. Mark Kolber on Nov 03, 2019

    Kris,

    I don’t know where he saw that specific date written out, but the April 30, 2021 date looks like a (mis?) calculation based on 61.19(b):

    (b) Paper student pilot certificate. A student pilot certificate issued under this part prior to April 1, 2016 expires:
    (1) For student pilots who have not reached their 40th birthday, 60 calendar months after the month of the date of examination shown on the medical certificate.

    A 39 year old student pilot who got his combined certificate/medical in would have a paper expiration date of March 31, 2021 (I guess that’s “no later than” April 30 f the same year ;))

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  5. Mark Kolber on Nov 03, 2019

    Yes, it’s a miscalculation. FSIMS 5-344 talks about all paper student certificates expiring by April 1, 2021, which makes sense.

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  6. KDS on Nov 03, 2019

    Under the heading of trivia, there were plastic pilot certificates that expired. The FAA ran a test program for a while that put pictures on pilot certificates. FAA personnel who passed through Oklahoma City were allowed to get one if they desired. I had a friend who took up the offer and got a pilot certificate with his picture on it. Unknown to him until he received it in the mail, it also had an expiration date on it.

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