FAA 709 Ride: Triggers, Process, Outcomes, and Appeals

An FAA 709 ride is a reexamination of a pilot’s qualifications ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration under 49 U.S.C. § 44709, which lets the Administrator retest any certificated airman when there is reason to believe skills or knowledge may be deficient.¹ The name comes from the section number. If you get one of these letters, you are not optional attendance: ignore it and the FAA moves to suspend your certificate; fail it and the agency can amend, suspend, or revoke.

Why the FAA Orders a 709 Ride

Most 709 orders follow an accident or incident where pilot error may have been a factor. The agency doesn’t have to prove you were at fault. It only has to establish that a lack of competence could have played a role, a standard the NTSB has repeatedly declined to second-guess.² Common triggering events include running out of fuel, groundloops that damage the airplane, and inadvertent gear-up landings.³

Roughly ten percent of cases involve pilots whose physical abilities have declined, often through aging, to the point where they can no longer meet Airman Certification Standards.³ The FAA has also used § 44709 to reexamine pilots whose original checkrides were given by designated pilot examiners the agency later concluded conducted inadequate evaluations.⁴ In that situation, the letter isn’t about anything you did in the cockpit.

Under a 2018 amendment to § 44709, the FAA has to give you a detailed “reasonable basis” for the reexamination along with information about the scope and nature of the test before proceeding.⁵ So the letter should tell you why.

What the Letter Requires

The FAA opens a 709 action with a formal letter, usually certified mail with a duplicate by regular mail. It identifies the certificate and ratings under review, describes the tasks to be evaluated, and states the reasonable basis for the request.⁶⁴

You are generally expected to contact the issuing Flight Standards District Office within ten business days and complete the reexamination within 15 days of receiving the letter.³ Legitimate obstacles such as injury or aircraft availability may earn some flexibility from the inspector, and you can deposit your certificate at the FSDO for up to 30 days while you arrange the ride.⁴ Indefinite delay is not on offer.

The FAA typically asks you to deposit your existing certificate before the ride and issues a temporary certificate in its place. That temporary usually prohibits carrying passengers, so you can fly and train but not haul anyone else while the case is open.⁶ A deposit is not the same thing as a surrender, and the two carry different legal consequences. Talk to an aviation attorney before signing anything.⁷

What the Ride Itself Looks Like

A 709 reexamination is normally administered by an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector, though the agency sometimes assigns a designated pilot examiner or an inspector from a different FSDO. You can ask to have the ride conducted at an office closer to you.⁴⁸

Unlike an initial checkride, a 709 is tailored to the concern that generated it. Groundloop a tailwheel airplane, and the ride focuses on takeoffs and landings. Run a tank dry, and the reexamination may be a tabletop exercise on flight planning with no flying at all.⁶ Even so, you are held to the current Airman Certification Standards for the certificate under review, and an inspector who spots deficiencies in other areas during the ride can use those as a basis for failure too.⁹

One boundary worth flagging: a routine flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 does not satisfy a 709 order. The NTSB has held that the two serve different regulatory purposes, so a recent BFR won’t get you out of the reexamination.¹⁰

How It Can End

Passing

Pass, and you get a letter of results, keep all your certificates and ratings, and the 709 action comes off your FAA airman record within 90 days.⁶

Failing

The FAA’s general policy is to offer a second attempt after a first failure. To get the second chance, you typically have to surrender the certificate on a temporary basis, and a temporary student pilot certificate valid for 30 days can be issued so you can continue training.¹¹⁷

Fail again, or have the inspector conclude you cannot pass, and the FAA will move to revoke. Failure is rarely marginal. According to experienced aviation writers and attorneys, it usually reflects a clear inability to hold objective tolerances for airspeed, altitude, and heading, and only a small minority of pilots who fail the first attempt go on to pass the second.³

Ignoring the Letter

Skip the ride and the FAA initiates emergency enforcement action to suspend your certificate. Fail and then refuse to hand it over, and the agency pursues emergency revocation. There are no recorded instances of a pilot successfully defeating an emergency revocation that followed a failed 709.³

Voluntary Surrender

If you conclude you cannot pass, 14 CFR 61.27 lets you voluntarily surrender the certificate outright, exchange it for a lower-grade certificate, or drop a specific rating. Doing so requires a signed acknowledgment that what you gave up will not be reissued without passing the applicable tests again.¹² A pilot who doubts they can pass an instrument reexamination, for instance, might drop the instrument rating and keep VFR privileges rather than lose everything through a revocation.

Appealing a Suspension or Revocation

If the FAA suspends or revokes your certificate after a 709 action, you can appeal to the National Transportation Safety Board. An Administrative Law Judge hears the case first, and the ALJ’s decision can be appealed to the full Board. If the Board rules against you, the next step is a U.S. Court of Appeals. In emergency cases, where the FAA makes the action effective immediately, the ALJ has to hold a hearing on the merits within 30 days of your appeal.¹³

The review standard is narrow. In Administrator v. Santos (NTSB Order EA-4266, 1994), the Board said it would not second-guess the FAA on the “actual necessity” for reexamining a pilot’s competence, confining itself to whether the airman was involved in a matter where a lack of competence could have been a factor.² Administrator v. Green reaffirmed that the FAA has “significant discretion” and that Board review of 709 requests is “very narrow and limited to the reasonableness of the request.”¹⁰

The Board has ruled against the FAA when the agency ignored its own procedures. In one case, an inspector failed to tell a pilot that declining to surrender the certificate after a first failure would forfeit the chance at a second reexamination and trigger immediate revocation. The ALJ reduced the revocation to a suspension pending a second reexam, the full Board denied the FAA’s appeal, and the decision faulted the agency for deviating from its policy of generally offering two attempts and emphasized the FAA’s “responsibility to inform” airmen of the consequences of their choices.¹¹

What It Means for Your Record and Future Hiring

A successful 709 reexamination is removed from your FAA airman record within 90 days, leaving no permanent trace there.⁶ The Pilot Records Database is a separate story. Air carriers are required to consult the PRD before hiring, and by statute, records cannot be removed from it without a death certificate; failed checkrides stay in the database permanently.¹⁴ Disclosure from the PRD to a prospective employer requires your written authorization.¹⁵ Enforcement actions and the failed checkrides that lead to revocation proceedings will be visible; how a passed 709 is categorized in the PRD after clearing the airman record is not clearly established.

How to Prepare

Whatever your experience level, treat the letter seriously. The reexamination is graded to current Airman Certification Standards, and you are expected to show full proficiency in the tested areas.

Contact an aviation attorney early. Counsel can talk to the inspector, clarify the scope of the ride, and advise on your options if you’re unsure you can pass. AOPA members can reach the organization’s Legal Services Plan.⁶
Respond to the letter. Silence triggers emergency suspension.³
Fly dual instruction focused on the areas identified in the letter. Ask your instructor for a candid read on whether you can meet ACS standards, and get a second opinion before you give up on a first instructor’s negative assessment.³
Prepare for the stated tasks, but expect the inspector to probe further if weaknesses show up in flight.⁹
Be honest with yourself. If serious preparation still leaves you unable to hold ACS tolerances, talk to your attorney about surrendering a specific rating under 14 CFR 61.27 to preserve the rest of your flying privileges instead of going through revocation.³

1
Cornell Law Institute. 49 U.S. Code § 44709 — Amendments, Modifications, Suspensions, and Revocations of Certificates
2
AOPA Pilot Protection Services. Demystifying 709 Reexaminations
3
AVweb. Unwanted Flight Test: The FAA’s 709 Ride
4
FAA. FAA Notice N 8900.274
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S.C. § 44709
6
AOPA Pilot Protection Services. 709 Rides
7
AOPA Pilot Protection Services. Reexamination and Pilot Certificate Deposit
8
AOPA. Pilots Who Flew With Discredited Examiner Face Reexamination
9
Aero Legal Services. The 709 Ride
10
Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton. Pilot’s Certificate Is Suspended Pending Successful Completion of a 709 Ride
11
AOPA. For the Record: Without Notice
12
eCFR. 14 CFR § 61.27 — Voluntary Surrender or Exchange of Certificate
13
Stanford Law School (ACUS). NTSB Appellate Proceedings
14
JetLaw. Pilot Records: This Goes in Your Permanent File
15
Federal Register. Pilot Records Database Final Rule