Checkride Emergency

Pia Bergqvist

Friday, September 07, 2012 at 11:54 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

If an emergency arises during a checkride due to equipment malfunction, the focus should be on safety, not passing the exam; such events qualify for a letter of discontinuance, preventing a failure on record.
According to FAR 61.47, the applicant is the pilot in command (PIC) during a checkride unless the examiner agrees to act in that capacity, making it crucial to establish roles for an emergency with the examiner before the flight.
Regardless of who is designated PIC, both the applicant and examiner should work collaboratively during an emergency to ensure a safe outcome, assisting each other with tasks like reading checklists or looking for traffic.

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For many licensed and student pilots, a checkride is a nerve-wracking event even if everything goes as planned. Last weekend an unfortunate pilot had his Private Pilot checkride turn into an actual emergency when two propeller blades separated from his Sting Sport LSA. Fortunately the pilot made a successful emergency landing and walked away uninjured with his Private Pilot License (PPL). But what would you do if you experienced an emergency during a checkride?

The first thing you need to do is to forget about the checkride aspect of the flight. It’s important to know that equipment malfunction qualifies the pilot certificate applicant for a letter of discontinuance. This means that you can continue the checkride at a later date without having to repeat the maneuvers you already completed and without having a failure on your record. So your last thought should be whether you’re going to pass your checkride or not just because you experienced a systems failure of some kind.