Covid 19 What is FAA take on maintaining currency?

AuntPeggy

AuntPeggy

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With all this "shelter in place" that is going around, does anybody know if the FAA is considering extending rules on currency?
 
Why would they do that? I see this as a different thing as medical. You don't get a medical problem from sheltering in place, you do lose proficiency from not flying.
 
They did for 121 recurrent. They are extending continuing qualification by 2 months. Delta just shut down their training center for 2 weeks.
 
asicer said:
Prevent a sudden rush that exceeds capacity on CFI's, rental planes, airspace, etc?
#flattenthecurve
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That's not their concern.
 
They’ve relaxed some recurrent training that’s due before May 31st for Part 135 too...but since Part 91 doesn’t include ‘essential’ services, it’s probably on the back burner of things.
 
To be honest, there would be virtually no safety impact in extending 3rd class, BasicMed medical certifications, or flight reviews for 3 months for those whose certs expire between April 1-June 30. Pilots still have to self-certify their health is acceptable to attempt a flight, and the one thing most of us CAN do while we are hunkered down is fly and maintain currency. It might keep ATC from getting bored. And I sincerely doubt if pilots are a few months extended in getting a flight review that planes will fall out of the sky. But logic is not always an FAA strength.
 
Certain things I would be in favor of extending, 90 day overall currency and IFR currency are not two of them though.. just because you are stuck on the ground does not mean you somehow stay as safe or proficient
 
Tantalum said:
Certain things I would be in favor of extending, 90 day overall currency and IFR currency are not two of them though.. just because you are stuck on the ground does not mean you somehow stay as safe or proficient
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I thought 90-day currency was just for carrying passengers, not overall.
 
Palmpilot said:
I thought 90-day currency was just for carrying passengers, not overall.
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It is, my point was that it's not something I would want them to bump out, say, to a hundred and twenty days as a result
 
....and (biennial) flight reviews...if I were a CFI I would want to put off one-on-one contact in small aircraft until contagion abates. Same for the “client” pilot.
 
How do you maintain " social distancing " in a Cessna 150 ?
 
AuntPeggy said:
With all this "shelter in place" that is going around, does anybody know if the FAA is considering extending rules on currency?
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I have just seen an answer from AvWeb.

The FAA has put all its COVID-19-related exemptions, policy deviations and various other pronouncements approved so far on a single webpage to help pilots, operators and maintenance organizations navigate the myriad time and personal-contact dependent regs that govern aviation enterprise.
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http://fsims.faa.gov/Wdocs/AFS-1 Me...ws9XMS4tkepTVJPXGH1Am85ilHxhjQaiqC5m_robDU9E8

GA groups have sent a shortlist.
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https://nbaa.org/wp-content/uploads/advocacy/letters/20200401-Joint-Industry-Letter-FAA.pdf
https://nbaa.org/wp-content/uploads/advocacy/letters/20200401-Joint-Industry-Letter-FAA.pdf
 
There’s more stuff being worked on. Because things like currency requirements are non-waivable provisions in the regulations, it requires rulemaking. While the process is being sped up at like 100x speed, it still takes some time to get out.
 
This came out last week: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...-for-public-benefit-exemptions-accommodations

Items that relate to admin stuff makes total sense, and I agree on some of the medical certs and other stuff... IE, things that are basically paperwork. But I don't agree with the Part 61 currency extensions.. or rather, if they're going to extend it, doesn't that acknowledge that the existing requirements had an insignificant impact on safety and mean they're not really necessary?

It's an extreme example, but isn't it like allowing drunk driving because there aren't enough people to man checkpoints?

If my currency lapses while this is in effect, I should have to go and get current again before I take people or go fly in the clouds. How does a Corona related grounding somehow maintain my proficiency?
 
asicer said:
Prevent a sudden rush that exceeds capacity on CFI's, rental planes, airspace, etc?
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After we get the all-clear, I think we've solved the CFI shortage for quite some time. The hard way.
 
VFR currency is nothing- do 3 solo takeoffs and landings and you’re there. Doesn’t seem like much of a hardship.

I don’t see any reason why BFRs and Medicals couldn’t be given a 6mo extension. I think annual inspections and pitot static checks could be given a one time 3mo grace period as well without much of consequence.

In regards to IFR currency maybe at least extend the 6mo grace period during which you can get current with a safety pilot.

Those would be my suggestions anyway. Dates are just lines that have been drawn, ultimately it’s always up to the pilot’s judgement to know where they’re at and if they are ready to fly safely. We’re all different, we fly in different situations, have different skill levels, different levels of challenge in what/where we fly. For me personally I’d be fine with going 9mo between flying approaches but I don’t fly hard IFR or shoot approaches to minimums. I just fly through layers on days that are still legally VFR in the flatlands. If I was IFR in mountains or made a habit of shooting approaches on 500’ overcast days that judgement might change- maybe then 6mo wouldn’t be good enough.
 
Tantalum said:
This came out last week: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...-for-public-benefit-exemptions-accommodations

Items that relate to admin stuff makes total sense, and I agree on some of the medical certs and other stuff... IE, things that are basically paperwork. But I don't agree with the Part 61 currency extensions.. or rather, if they're going to extend it, doesn't that acknowledge that the existing requirements had an insignificant impact on safety and mean they're not really necessary?

It's an extreme example, but isn't it like allowing drunk driving because there aren't enough people to man checkpoints?

If my currency lapses while this is in effect, I should have to go and get current again before I take people or go fly in the clouds. How does a Corona related grounding somehow maintain my proficiency?
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i agree. getting BFR (or whatever its called this week)/IPC is different but i see no reason FAA should extend normal currency requirement. when you get out of the lock down, go get current before hauling pax.
 
WannFly said:
when you get out of the lock down, go get current before hauling pax
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Yup! Knocking out 3 takeoffs and landings is not that hard. Now, if you need to fly a hold and 6 approaches hopefully you got a safety pilot friend you can bring along

I'm torn on the IPC thing though.. I get that someone might be artificially prevented from their extra 6 month IFR safety pilot currency stance.. but a bunch of dudes and their safety pilot buddies who are a year out of currency might not be the smartest idea either.. so I vote for leaving IFR currency alone.
 
Tantalum said:
I'm torn on the IPC thing though.. I get that someone might be artificially prevented from their extra 6 month IFR safety pilot currency stance.. but a bunch of dudes and their safety pilot buddies who are a year out of currency might not be the smartest idea either.. so I vote for leaving IFR currency alone.
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If they'll cheat they'll cheat. I'm current until 31 May and only need 2 to be current further out. I try and do some every month. Got two in March but April appear to be a loss right now. Maybe in May we'll be flying again and if so I won't drop but it would sure be nice to continue to space my approaches out instead of having to do them all at once.
 
Tantalum said:
I'm torn on the IPC thing though.. I get that someone might be artificially prevented from their extra 6 month IFR safety pilot currency stance.. but a bunch of dudes and their safety pilot buddies who are a year out of currency might not be the smartest idea either.. so I vote for leaving IFR currency alone.
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Plus one can do the approaches for 6-month IFR on a BATD/AATD solo and still be socially distant (unless the sim is across state/county lines, but that's another story).
 
Not worried about annual till this is over,would like an extension on the BFR.
 
I was lucky and completed my BFR on March 9th, exactly one week before the first shelter-in-place order in the nation was issued in my county. I may still need to fly with an instructor to renew my club currency when the state and county orders are lifted, depending on when that is.
 
So new relief yet on CFI renewal? I usually just swing by the FSDO on my way from one of my airline trips. Now that my plane isn't really flying and the FSDOs are pretty much closed, that's not really an option. Don't mind paying $26 to American Flyers to process it for me, just wondering if they provided relief for CFI renewal.
 
Sociald said:
So new relief yet on CFI renewal? I usually just swing by the FSDO on my way from one of my airline trips. Now that my plane isn't really flying and the FSDOs are pretty much closed, that's not really an option. Don't mind paying $26 to American Flyers to process it for me, just wondering if they provided relief for CFI renewal.
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Haven’t seen any. I just paid for electronic processing and went about my merry way.

Our FSDO is all razor wired and security guarded and crap like Ft Knox, anyway. Waste of time.
 
I can see BFRs, IFR past the one year mark, and medicals being extended. I can’t imagine trying to get all the IPCs done if they don’t push that a bit. The rest is easy to get. An hour and a safety pilot and your good.
 
Sociald said:
So new relief yet on CFI renewal? I usually just swing by the FSDO on my way from one of my airline trips. Now that my plane isn't really flying and the FSDOs are pretty much closed, that's not really an option. Don't mind paying $26 to American Flyers to process it for me, just wondering if they provided relief for CFI renewal.
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FSDO's are not closed. And yes, they are still renewing CFI's.
 
Glad I did my flight review in Feb. It wasn't due until the end of March. Dodged a bullet.
 
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