Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Failed Instrument Written Test

Asked by: 14110 views , , ,
Instrument Rating

I have taken and failed the instrument written twice. First time I got a 68, second a 62. I took the second one only days after the first, so I realize my mistake. I was not getting your recommended 90% on practice tests either... more like 78/80%. Anyway, my goal is to ultimately become an airline pilot for a major and I'm worried about this bump in the road showing up on my records. I understand the FAA examiner only sees my passing score, but will these 2 failed scores follow me forever?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Dauntless Aviation's GroundSchool series of apps are the smart pilot's choice for fast and effective FAA knowledge test prep.
Actual, up-to-date FAA questions Polished user experience
Best explanations in the business Free lifetime updates!
Private Pilot IFR Commercial Pilot CFI ATP Sport Pilot Sport Pilot Instructor Parachute Rigger Aviation Mechanic (A&P)
You can get the app now and be studying right away. Available for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android.

3 Answers



  1. Paul on Jul 27, 2010

    You may be asked a question during an interview “Have you ever failed any written or practical checks?” However, just because you answer “yes” does not mean you won’t get the job. The key is spinning it to make you look good. You could answer, “I did struggle with my instrument ground school, I had a hard time understanding X but I worked hard passed my test and went on to receive a 95% on my ATP written.”

    You have to remember, there have been guys re-hired by airlines after much much worse issues. The interview board doesn’t want perfection, but they want to see that you are someone who works hard and learns from your mistakes and is passionate about being a pilot.

    Good luck, hang in there! Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… “

    +3 Votes Thumb up 4 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes



  2. Matthew Waugh on Jul 29, 2010

    I agree with Paul’s answer, but not to be too much of a downer, it’s “easy” to address in the interview, harder to address if you don’t yet have an interview. Prior to recently the airlines said they would do a document search on you, but most did not, certainly at the “first airline job level”. A number of accidents have happened with pilots who had a number of failures on their record (and I have no opinion on if that makes them good pilots or not, I’m just saying). Congress got itself twisted around the issue and made noise.

    So airlines may get gun shy for a while, although in my opinion most of the regional airlines are playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun most of the time so this probably won’t faze them one bit.

    On the other hand looks like we’re going to get the 1500 hours for the right seat regulation in place at some point, and so in some future hiring frenzy the ability to fog a mirror and have accumulated 1500 hours will get you a flying job.

    Keep your nose clean, ace the rest of your checkrides (keep your knowledge test scores, send them in with the application, can’t hurt, can it?) have a fine aviation career and I’m sure you can get hired by an airline.

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes



  3. carpediem1 on Feb 01, 2012

     
    To study for the written there are programs like our software that do not teach you mindless memorization but instead teach you the material itself through time tested techniques. I have been personally teaching written exam classes for over 10 years and here is the result of my experience:
     
    http://passfaaexams.com/
     
    Feel free to download our trial version and see if this teaching technique suits your needs.
     

    +5 Votes Thumb up 5 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.