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Instrument Current? FAA Clarifies Clarification

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA's recent "clarification" on instrument currency rules was widely misinterpreted, leading some to believe an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) was immediately necessary upon currency expiration.
  • The FAA has now clarified that its original intent and the recurrency system remain unchanged: pilots have an additional six calendar months after their currency expires to complete the required tasks (6 approaches, holding, tracking) with an approved safety pilot.
  • An IPC is only mandated if a pilot fails to regain currency by completing the standard tasks within that subsequent six-month period, meaning their currency has been lapsed for more than six calendar months in total.
See a mistake? Contact us.

The FAA has recently issued a clarification of what it originally intended as a clarification of its instrument currency rules and the requirements for needing to complete an instrument proficiency check (IPC) for IFR-rated pilots whose proficiency had expired.

As is to be expected for the FAA (really for any bureaucracy), the regs themselves are tough to grasp without a linguist on retainer, so here’s the translation:

Isabel Goyer

A commercial pilot, Isabel Goyer has been flying for more than 40 years, with hundreds of different aircraft in her logbook and thousands of hours. An award-winning aviation writer, photographer and editor, Ms. Goyer led teams at Sport Pilot, Air Progress and Flying before coming to Plane & Pilot in 2015.

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