The FAASTeam alternative allows you to attend an FAA safety seminar in person or online and take three hours dual instruction within a two-year period. [Adobe Stock]
Key Takeaways:
The FAASTeam WINGS program offers an alternative to the mandatory two-year flight review, requiring online registration, participation in a safety seminar, and three hours of dual flight instruction, with instructors still verifying proficiency according to FAA standards.
Despite its intent, the program faces widespread criticism from pilots for its complexity, bureaucratic administration, difficult website, and perceived ineffectiveness, resulting in low participation.
The author, a former safety program manager, contrasts the current program's challenges with the success of earlier, community-focused safety events they organized, which fostered greater engagement and learning.
Since retiring, I’ve heard little or nothing from pilot friends about choosing to meet the 61.56 mandatory two-year flight review by enrolling in the FAA’s FAASTeam program.
When I investigated, it seemed obvious that this route is more complicated—certainly more than when the WINGS program began in 1996.
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Martha Lunken is a lifelong pilot, former FAA inspector and defrocked pilot examiner. She flies a Cessna 180 and anything with a tailwheel, from Cubs to DC-3s.
