PLT442: Pilot Currency
What code PLT442 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Pilot Currency before your checkride.
Recall regulations - pilot currency requirements
What this means for your checkride
To carry passengers you must be current: within the preceding 90 days, three takeoffs and landings in the same category, class, and, if type-rated, type; for night passenger carriage those must be to a full stop at night. Instrument currency requires six approaches, holding, and course intercepting and tracking within six calendar months.
Currency keeps skills fresh for carrying passengers, so the FAA tests the 90-day takeoff-and-landing and instrument currency rules.
Pilots confuse currency with the flight review. The 24-month flight review keeps you legal to act as PIC at all; the 90-day rule is an additional requirement to carry passengers.
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.