All of this, except the definition of Administrator comes from: VOLUME 5 AIRMAN CERTIFICATION

CHAPTER 7 REEXAMINATION OF AN AIRMAN

Which can be found here: http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=6B5517EC9C4A91258525734F00766 681


Authority. Under Title 49 of the United States Code (49 U.S.C.) § 44709 (formerly § 609 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (FA Act)), the Administrator is authorized to reexamine any airman at any time.

Administrator. The Federal Aviation Administrator or any person to whom he has delegated his authority in the matter concerned.


I always understood APDs DPEs etc to be acting on behalf of the Administrator. So they therefore could request a 709 ride.


B. Basis for Reexamination. The reexamination of an airman on the basis of lack of competency is never to be undertaken lightly. There must be ample or probable cause for requesting the reexamination. In most cases a reexamination will result from the inspector’s investigation of an accident or incident where the pilot’s competence was the apparent cause of the occurrence.

Obviously this isn't the case for new hires. I don't think at any point in time competency should be judged on this level. If a new hire can't handle training dismiss them. Obviously it's more challenging than that post Colgan rulings.

5-1419 BASIS OF REEXAMINATION TEST. When an inspector has sufficient reason to believe that an airman may not be qualified to exercise the privileges of a particular certificate or rating, a reexamination may be required. The inspector reaches this conclusion either through reliable reports, personal knowledge, or on the basis of evidence obtained through an accident, incident, or enforcement investigation.

I see this playing into the above post. Maybe someone has a voice with the FAA to get a 709 ride pushed through, assuming they cannot issue it themselves.

5-1422 INSPECTOR QUALIFICATIONS. Inspectors must be qualified in the aircraft. An inspector conducting a reexamination test shall hold the same aircraft category and class ratings that the airman is being tested on. (A Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) shall not conduct a reexamination test.)


Pretty self explanatory. The DPE can not administer the test. Only a FAA inspector can.

I did find it interesting that the document changed from an Administrator to an Inspector from one paragraph to the next. Typical FAA I suppose. I'm not privy to the finer details of a 709 ride and it's proceedings. Nor do I ever hope to be.

I know while I was there, a CA was downgraded and after awhile put up for a 709 ride. I don't know who issued it. It was always my assumption that the head of training or one of his close henchmen was responsible.

I would imagine this to be an empty threat by the training dept. I do know that those guys don't mess around and they have no issues failing and firing new hires. So in those regards be careful.

Well crap. After all that work I noticed that the initial paragraph it only says "to reexamine" no request or anything like that. So yeah I would imagine only true FAA can initiate the 709 process. The kicker being 5-1419 reliable reports.

Oh the things you learn commuting at the crack of oh dark thirty!