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PLT026: Ceiling

What code PLT026 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Ceiling before your checkride.

Updated September 2026 · Learning statement code · Pilot / Instructor

Official FAA learning statement

Define ceiling

What this means for your checkride

A ceiling is the height above the ground of the lowest cloud layer reported as broken or overcast, or the vertical visibility into an obscuration. Scattered layers do not count. It is a key number for VFR and instrument minimums.

Ceiling decides whether a flight is legal and safe under VFR, so the FAA tests the definition and how to read it from a METAR.

The common trap

Pilots count a scattered layer as a ceiling. Only broken (BKN) or overcast (OVC) layers, or vertical visibility into an obscuration, establish a ceiling.

Where to study it

FAA source
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Aviation Weather chapters, ceiling
Read Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge on Aviator IQ →
Before your checkride (14 CFR 61.39)

A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.