ricecakecm
Well-Known Member
Some things to consider about this issue from the FAA standpoint:
1. National notices like this aren't issued very often or without a lot of evaluation of the situation. It takes a lot of man power to make this happen, not only at the FSDO where the DPE did his work, but nationwide. Remember, you can take this 709 ride at any FSDO. So if you're in Maine and you got this letter, you can go to the nearest FSDO and they've got to do the test for you. That takes an inspector out of the office for half a day or more to do the reexamination for an issue his office had nothing to do with. That takes him away from dealing with his own work, with his operators.
For specific information on 709 reexaminations, go to fsims.faa.gov. Click on "8900.1 Contents" >> "Volume 5" >> "Chapter 7. Reexamination of an Airman". As a side note, if you ever wonder how the FAA does their job, FSIMS is where to find out.
2. In very general terms, this DPE was not doing his job according to the guidance. Everybody in this business is being watched. DPEs watch applicants. POIs watch DPEs. Supervisors and Office Manages watch POIs. Regional and National offices watch FSDOs. When an inspector does surveillance on a DPE (or any other kind of surveillance), the results of that activity go into a national database that any inspector in the country can look at. The folks in Oklahoma City who oversee the Designee program look at those reports and if they see a trend that shows non-compliance, they'll act on it. That's what happened here.
3. If you got one of those letters, or any letter at any time requesting a reexamination, you've got three options:
(1) Take the re-exam. The letter will be very specific as to what PTS and what areas of the PTS you'll be tested on. If you can't take the re-exam in a "reasonable" period of time, put your certificate on temporary deposit with the FSDO (this is not surrendering your certificate). They'll issue you a temporary certificate limited to student pilot privileges. When you're ready, take the test.
(2) Voluntarily surrender your certificate for cancellation.
(3) If you ignore the letter, your certificate will be suspended pending compliance. When (and if) you're ready to get your certificate back, you take the test.
In most instances, you can't just voluntarily downgrade. For example, if you bend metal while landing and you hold a commercial certificate, you can't downgrade to private because you'll still have to land as a private pilot. However, if you take the 709 test and can't meet the commercial pilot PTS standards, but you can meet the private pilot PTS standards, at that point you can downgrade. Generally, you'll get two or three attempts to pass the test. If you still can't meet the standard, typically we'll ask you to do a voluntary surrender. If that doesn't work, we'll start the process to revoke the certificate.
The vast majority of FAA inspectors out there don't want to suspend or revoke a certificate. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time. The vast majority of inspectors will work with you to the extent that they can if you're in this situation. We are pilots too and know how much work (and money) it takes to get your certificate.
1. National notices like this aren't issued very often or without a lot of evaluation of the situation. It takes a lot of man power to make this happen, not only at the FSDO where the DPE did his work, but nationwide. Remember, you can take this 709 ride at any FSDO. So if you're in Maine and you got this letter, you can go to the nearest FSDO and they've got to do the test for you. That takes an inspector out of the office for half a day or more to do the reexamination for an issue his office had nothing to do with. That takes him away from dealing with his own work, with his operators.
For specific information on 709 reexaminations, go to fsims.faa.gov. Click on "8900.1 Contents" >> "Volume 5" >> "Chapter 7. Reexamination of an Airman". As a side note, if you ever wonder how the FAA does their job, FSIMS is where to find out.
2. In very general terms, this DPE was not doing his job according to the guidance. Everybody in this business is being watched. DPEs watch applicants. POIs watch DPEs. Supervisors and Office Manages watch POIs. Regional and National offices watch FSDOs. When an inspector does surveillance on a DPE (or any other kind of surveillance), the results of that activity go into a national database that any inspector in the country can look at. The folks in Oklahoma City who oversee the Designee program look at those reports and if they see a trend that shows non-compliance, they'll act on it. That's what happened here.
3. If you got one of those letters, or any letter at any time requesting a reexamination, you've got three options:
(1) Take the re-exam. The letter will be very specific as to what PTS and what areas of the PTS you'll be tested on. If you can't take the re-exam in a "reasonable" period of time, put your certificate on temporary deposit with the FSDO (this is not surrendering your certificate). They'll issue you a temporary certificate limited to student pilot privileges. When you're ready, take the test.
(2) Voluntarily surrender your certificate for cancellation.
(3) If you ignore the letter, your certificate will be suspended pending compliance. When (and if) you're ready to get your certificate back, you take the test.
In most instances, you can't just voluntarily downgrade. For example, if you bend metal while landing and you hold a commercial certificate, you can't downgrade to private because you'll still have to land as a private pilot. However, if you take the 709 test and can't meet the commercial pilot PTS standards, but you can meet the private pilot PTS standards, at that point you can downgrade. Generally, you'll get two or three attempts to pass the test. If you still can't meet the standard, typically we'll ask you to do a voluntary surrender. If that doesn't work, we'll start the process to revoke the certificate.
The vast majority of FAA inspectors out there don't want to suspend or revoke a certificate. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time. The vast majority of inspectors will work with you to the extent that they can if you're in this situation. We are pilots too and know how much work (and money) it takes to get your certificate.
