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3 Answers

Pilot annual checks

Asked by: 1962 views Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

Hi there! 
Couldn't find it myself, so will ask here.

Lets assume I have FAA cpl/atpl with b737 type rating and got hired by a foreign company. They fly VP-...VQ-... registered aircraft. So do they have to have FAA CFI to perform my annual and FFS checks or it can be done by company's type rated CFI (non FAA)?

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3 Answers



  1. Jeff Baum on Aug 27, 2020

    Per ICAO Annex 1, you would need to “convert” your US issued certificate to a similar level of certificate/license of the foreign company’s country. Some counties will accept a US certificate with a minimum amount of effort. Others will require several exams and check rides before issuing a certificate for that country. Eventually you’d have certificates/licenses from both the host country and USA.

    As to the “annual and FFS checks”, and any other checks required by the host country those would be handled internally. Either through the operator’s training program or an approved instructor in that country.To maintain US currency, you would need to receive a Flight Review from a US certificate CFI (61.56).

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  2. ildar on Aug 28, 2020

    Thanks a lot. Seem clear enough now.

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  3. awair on Aug 29, 2020

    There are typically two ways to fly a ‘foreign’-registered aircraft (commercially):

    You must either have a ‘Validation’ or a conversion.

    Some countries will accept any ICAO license and permit commercial operations with some kind of ‘letter of authority’. Recency checks would be as per foreign regulations. This validation may have to be sponsored by the employer, may depend on commercial needs or the rarity of the aircraft type and qualified pilots.

    Conversion will give you a full foreign license, and the process differs from state to state, and ranges from the trivial to ridiculous… (EASA?)

    To fly privately, you can normally fly the foreign aircraft in your own country with an existing license. Some countries will automatically validate an ICAO license for use of their aircraft in their own state (UK used to do this, but is now more complicated under EASA.)

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