CFI pass/fail ratio

[flyboy2710]

I have always heard rumors that CFI's were required to hold a certain pass/fail % to keep their certificates valid, but I have not found any such regulation in the FAR's. I am familiar with the regs reguarding renewal of a CFI certificate, I was just wondering if a current CFI has a couple of failures in a row that lowered his pass/fail %, would he/she be subject to any type of suspension and/or dicipline action by the FAA? And if so, were can I reference that regulation?

[Denny of Oakland]

There is no such rule for pass/fail in the FAA regulations or policies. The FAA does track all DPRE/DME’s pass/fails rates and provides that information to the local FSDO inspectors. This is a good indicator of how the designees are doing and provides information on the number of applicants each designee signs off or not.

As an example if a designee has 100% pass and no failures it may appear and I say may appear there is a problem. This may not be the case and the designee in most cases can explain it. If a designee has to many failures again what is the problem for the failures.

The designee has to show there is a need for their services to hold the position. If a designee has no applicants then there is no need for his services and the FSDO can and will in most cased termite the designee status for that individual.

CFI’s hold a unique position in aviation and are the gatekeepers for pilots. The FAA doesn’t want any Santa Clauses so to speak, but they do like to see failures as it shows CFI’s are really doing your job and holding applicants to a standard. Having 100% pass rate may/will get the FAA attention in most cases wondering why.

What gets the FAA attention is if a student pilot has an accident the FAA will now look at the CFI and start asking questions about the students training. The name of the game is follow the practical test standards 100% and don’t cut anyone on slack.