Regulations and Legal Requirements
What the exam tests
This domain asks you to apply 14 CFR Parts 61 and 91 to instructor authority, pilot privileges, and required documents. The BGI knowledge test is not a memorization test of rule numbers; it presents a scenario and asks whether the action is authorized.
Instructor authority
- 14 CFR 61.213 sets eligibility: at least 18, able to read, speak, write, and understand English, and pass the required knowledge tests.
- 61.215(a) gives a Basic Ground Instructor three core privileges: ground training for sport, recreational, and private pilot applicants; ground training for those flight reviews; and a recommendation for the associated knowledge test.
- A Basic Ground Instructor is not authorized to recommend an applicant for a private pilot practical test. That endorsement under 61.39 comes from the authorized instructor who provided the required training.
- Instrument ground training and instrument knowledge-test recommendations require an Instrument Ground Instructor rating under 61.215(c). Advanced Ground Instructor privileges are broader under 61.215(b).
Pilot documents and legal limits
- 61.3 requires the pilot certificate, medical certificate if required, and photo ID to be carried.
- 91.203 requires the airworthiness certificate, registration, operating limitations, and weight-and-balance data to be aboard.
- 91.17 prohibits acting as PIC within 8 hours of alcohol consumption, with a blood alcohol level of 0.04 or higher, or while under the influence.
Worked example
A BGI finishes ground school with a private pilot applicant. The applicant asks for a logbook endorsement to take the practical test. May the BGI sign? Reasoning: No. 61.215(a)(3) authorizes a recommendation for a knowledge test, not a practical test. The practical test endorsement is tied to the training required by 61.39 and must be made by an authorized instructor who provided that training. The BGI may sign the knowledge-test endorsement under 61.35(a)(1) and may document ground training, but cannot supply the practical-test endorsement.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing up knowledge-test recommendations with practical-test endorsements.
- Assuming a Basic Ground Instructor may teach instrument students.
- Treating a ground instructor certificate as authority to act as PIC or give flight instruction.
- Forgetting that 61.3 and 91.203 cover different documents.