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Instrument Current? FAA Clarifies Clarification

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA clarified that an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) is not immediately required when a pilot's instrument currency lapses.
  • Instead, pilots have an additional six-month grace period after their currency expires to re-establish proficiency by completing the standard requirements (6 approaches, holds, tracking) with an approved safety pilot.
  • An IPC only becomes mandatory if a pilot fails to regain currency within this additional six-month period, meaning their currency has been lapsed for more than a total of six calendar months.
  • The established requirement to perform holding procedures for instrument currency remains unchanged.
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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