Training And Certification Advisory Circulars Revised

The recently released ACs address the FAA’s pilot/instructor training and certification guidance.

Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA published an unusual number of new and revised advisory circulars (ACs) in late 2024, offering updated guidance for pilot and instructor compliance, which the agency will use as a baseline for assessing adherence to regulations.
A revised advisory circular (AC 90-120) introduces ACAS X, the next-generation Airborne Collision Avoidance System, which is more sophisticated than TCAS and aims to reduce nuisance alerts for a broader range of operators.
The AOPA Air Safety Institute's 34th Richard G. McSpadden Safety Report highlights loss of control events as the leading causal factor in general aviation accidents and identifies weather-related incidents as highly lethal.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Beginning in late October 2024 and extending into mid-November, the FAA’s General Aviation & Commercial Division (AFS-800), part of the agency’s Flight Standards Service, published a handful of advisory circulars (ACs) providing guidance on how the FAA wants pilots and flight instructors to comply with its various regulations.

While it’s not new that the FAA publishes ACs—they’ve been around as long as the agency itself, if not longer—it is somewhat unusual that so many, eight in total, would come out of the same office within a few days of each other.