Taylor Grayson
6900 Amersham Drive
Memphis, TN 38119
Dear Mr. Grayson:
This letter responds to the request for a legal interpretation that you
mailed to this office on August 25,2009. Your letter seeks clarification
regarding the flight instructor limitations and qualifications set forth in 14
CFR 61.195. Specifically, you have asked whether a flight instructor who
holds only an instrument-airplane rating on his or her flight instructor
certificate may conduct instrument training in a single or multiengine
airplane if he holds those ratings only on his commercial pilot's certificate.
In order to be eligible for a flight instructor certificate under 14 CFR
61.183, a person must hold either a commercial pilot certificate or an airline
transport pilot (ATP) certificate with the aircraft category and class rating
that is appropriate to the flight instructor rating sought. In addition, if
the person is applying for a flight instructor certificate with an airplane
category and class rating, a powered-lift rating, or an instrument rating,
the pilot certificate must also contain an instrument rating or privileges
that are appropriate to the flight instructor rating sought. For example, in
order to obtain a flight instructor certificate with an airplane multi engine
class rating, a person must first hold a commercial pilot certificate with an
airplane multi engine class rating and instrument-airplane rating or an ATP
certificate with an airplane multi engine class rating.
Section 61.195(b), which addresses flight instructor limitations and
qualifications with regard to aircraft ratings, directs that a flight
instructor may not conduct flight training in any aircraft for which he does
not hold "a pilot certificate and flight instructor certificate with the
applicable category and class rating[.]" As such, a flight instructor is
precluded from providing flight training in a specific class of airplane if
the instructor does not have that class rating on his or her flight instructor
certificate.
Revised 61.195( c), which became effective on October 21, 2009, addresses
flight instructor limitations and qualifications with regard to instrument
ratings. It states that "[a] flight instructor who provides instrument
training for the issuance of an instrument rating, a type rating not limited
to VFR, or the instrument training required for commercial pilot and air
transport pilot certificates must hold an instrument rating on his or her
pilot certificate and flight instructor certificate that is appropriate to the
category and class of aircraft used for the training provided."
As you noted in your letter, the rule formerly stated that "a flight
instructor providing instrument training for issuance of an instrument rating
or a type rating not limited to VFR must hold an instrument rating on his or
her flight instructor certificate and pilot certificate that is appropriate to
the category and class of aircraft in which the instrument training is being
provided." You suggested that the change in the order of the certificates in
this provision now restricts a flight instructor from providing instrument
training in a particular class of airplane if the instructor does not have
that class rating on his flight instructor certificate.
As we recently noted in the preamble of the Pilot, Flight Instructor, and
Pilot School Certification Final Rule (74 FR 42500, Aug. 21, 2009) the
revision to 61.195(c) was intended to clarify that, in order to provide the
instrument training required for a commercial pilot certificate or ATP
certificate, a flight instructor must have an instrument rating on his flight
instructor certificate that is applicable to the aircraft category for which
the training is provided. We distinguished this requirement from the
qualifications required for those instructors who provide flight training on
the "basic instrument maneuvers" in 61.107 and the "control and maneuvering
of an airplane solely by reference to the instruments" in 61.109 necessary
for private pilot certification. Flight instructors providing this type of
flight training are not required to have an instrument rating on their flight
instructor certificates.
In addition to clarifying that a flight instructor providing instrument flight
training for a commercial or ATP certificate must have an instrument-airplane
rating on his or her flight instructor certificate, we explained that, under
61.195, a flight instructor may not conduct instrument flight training in a
multiengine airplane unless that flight instructor holds the appropriate
airplane category multi engine class rating on both his or her pilot
certificate and flight instructor certificate. This requirement also applies
to instrument flight training for the issuance of an instrument rating and
type rating not limited to VFR. We note that FAA Order 8900.1, 5-503, which
you referenced in your letter, is inconsistent with the current regulation.
This response was prepared by Anne Moore, an Attorney in the Regulations
Division of the Office of the Chief Counsel and coordinated with the
Certification and General Aviation Operations Branch of Flight Standards
Service. We hope this response has been helpful to you. If you have additional
questions regarding this matter, please contact us at your convenience at
(202) 267-3073.
