How hard is the Commercial Pilot Airplane written test?
Nearly everyone passes, because nearly everyone who sits it is already an experienced pilot. The misses are conceptual. It ranks 7th-hardest of 7 exams in this index.
The test at a glance
Four numbers that tell you what you are walking into.
Up 0.7 points vs 2023. 7th-hardest of 7.
Mean score of everyone who sat it in 2024.
Up 40% since 2020.
Aviator IQ's read of the pass rate.
100 questions70% to pass (70 correct)~2.5 hr at the testing centerBuilt from FAA-G-8082-6
How the Commercial is trending
Pass rate, average score, and test volume by year. Flip between them.
The lighter final bar is the preliminary 2025 figure, which the FAA has not yet finalized. Source: FAA Airman Knowledge Test statistics.
Our read on it
Volume is up here too, 20,530 in 2025 against 13,455 in 2020 (+53%), riding the same airline-hiring wave lifting the whole industry. But the Commercial behaves nothing like the mechanic and drone tests.
Pilot candidates are self-selected and heavily prepared, usually well into flight training before they touch the written. That is why the pass rate holds near 99.3% and scores stay high. The number to watch is not the pass rate, it is your own margin. At a 91.0% average, most people who pass still leave easy points on the table.
Where it ranks
Every dot is one FAA written test, placed by its pass rate. The Commercial is highlighted; the dashed line is the average across all 7.
The topics you are most likely to miss
These are the ACS codes the FAA reports missed most on the Commercial. Try a sample question, then read why the wrong answer is so tempting.
Human factors: stress
84% miss itStress in aviation is the body's response to demand, and a little of it sharpens you. Too much, and performance falls off a cliff: attention narrows, you fixate on one thing, and you stop taking in new information. That collapse under overload is acute stress, and it can hit a sharp, well-prepared pilot in a single busy moment. See the full breakdown.
What causes a spin, and how to identify the entry, incipient, and developed phases
78% miss itA spin is an aggravated stall with autorotation: both wings are stalled, but one more than the other, so the airplane rolls, yaws, and corkscrews down. It takes a stall plus yaw to start one, which is why uncoordinated flight near a stall is the classic setup. See the full breakdown.
The 10 questions people miss most
These are the topics that trip up the most Commercial candidates, written as example questions you can try. Answer each one for an instant breakdown of why the wrong choice is so tempting, then take a full Commercial practice test under real test conditions.
When reducing power in an airplane with a constant-speed propeller, the correct sequence is:
A commercial pilot who does not hold an instrument rating is limited to carrying passengers for hire:
Lifting off inside ground effect before reaching the recommended climb speed most often results in:
Above which cabin pressure altitude must the required minimum flight crew use supplemental oxygen at all times?
An airplane loaded with its center of gravity aft of the aft limit will be:
Adverse yaw during a roll is caused primarily by:
Increasing an airplane's gross weight will:
Operating an aircraft carelessly or recklessly so as to endanger the life or property of another is prohibited by:
A turbocharger allows a piston engine to:
To see a dim object at night most effectively, you should:
What to watch for
The habits that cost people points on this exam, drawn from the topics they miss most.
- Human factors: stress: Candidates reach for a physiological label like hypoxia, or for complacency, when the scenario describes ordinary task overload. They also blur acute and chronic stress, which have different causes and fixes.
- What causes a spin, and how to identify the entry, incipient, and developed phases: Candidates see rotation and jump straight to 'developed,' skipping the incipient phase. Developed specifically means the motions have stabilized, which has not happened right after departure.
A sudden breakdown during a demanding task is acute stress, not hypoxia or complacency.
Common questions
Other exams in the index
See how the Commercial compares to the tests candidates take alongside it.
Sources & data notes
- FAA Airman Knowledge Test Statistics (hub)Annual and quarterly Airman Knowledge Test volume, pass rate, and average score by test code. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Knowledge Test annual statistics, 2019 to 2025Per-exam volume, pass rate, and average score. Calendar-year reports 2019 through 2025 (2025 preliminary). Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Frequently Missed Knowledge Test ACS CodesFAA Safety Analysis Branch quarterly report: the most-missed ACS code per test code, with percent missed. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Certification Standards (ACS) documentsPlain-English topic and Area/Task definitions for each ACS code (Private FAA-S-ACS-6, Commercial FAA-S-ACS-7, Aviation Mechanic FAA-S-ACS-1). Part 107 (UAG) follows the PSI UAG Applicant Information Bulletin, the current test blueprint that supersedes the FAA-S-ACS-10 blueprint. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Pass rates, volumes, and average scores are the FAA's published figures. Difficulty rankings and threat levels are Aviator IQ's analysis of that public data, not official FAA ratings.
- Aviator IQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with the Federal Aviation Administration.
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