PLT430: Minimum Safe Altitudes
What code PLT430 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Minimum Safe Altitudes before your checkride.
Recall regulations - minimum safe / flight altitude
What this means for your checkride
Minimum safe altitudes under 91.119: anywhere, an altitude that allows an emergency landing without undue hazard; over a congested area, 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a 2,000-foot horizontal radius; over other than congested areas, 500 feet above the surface and no closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.
These floors protect people on the ground, so the FAA tests the congested-area and non-congested-area minimums.
Pilots apply the 500-foot rule everywhere. Over a congested area it is 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within 2,000 feet; the 500-foot figure is for sparsely populated areas, plus a 500-foot distance from people and structures.
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.