PLT400: Required Documents Aboard
What code PLT400 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Required Documents Aboard before your checkride.
Recall regulations - documents to be carried on aircraft during flight
What this means for your checkride
An aircraft in flight must carry its Airworthiness certificate, Registration certificate, Operating limitations (POH/AFM, placards, markings), and Weight and balance data, with a Radio station license added for international flight, the memory aid ARROW. The airworthiness and registration certificates must be displayed or available as required.
Missing a required document makes the flight illegal, so the FAA tests which papers must be aboard.
Pilots forget the operating limitations and weight and balance count. ARROW is not just the certificates; the POH or AFM and current weight and balance must be aboard too.
Where to study it
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.