What examiners actually look for on a check ride

Every licence, type rating and endorsement we teach ends with a check ride, a flight test with an independent examiner who did not teach you. Our team of 22 examiners conducts around 1,800 of them a year. Candidates often arrive convinced that we are looking for perfect flying. We are not.

What we look for is safe, managed flying. Everyone makes small errors. The question is whether you notice them, correct them and keep the flight safe. A candidate who drifts slightly off a Kestrel docking approach, recognises it, says so and corrects calmly will usually pass. A candidate who flies a beautiful approach but misses a cabin pressure warning will not.

The most common reasons for failure are consistent across courses. First, checklist discipline: skipping or rushing items under pressure. Second, poor communication in multi-crew ships, especially not stating intentions clearly. Third, fixation: concentrating so hard on one problem that the candidate misses a second one developing. Fourth, in landing and proximity tests, pressing on when the right answer was to abort.

Each course has its own emphasis. On the Commercial Pilot Licence (Orbital) check ride in the Kestrel, we always include an engine failure on ascent and a manual docking. On the Planetary Descent Endorsement, the low-altitude abort carries as much weight as the landing. On the Valkyrie Survey Corvette Type Rating, we assess the quality of the survey data as well as the flying.

Our first-time pass rates range from 80 per cent on Passenger Liner Command to 92 per cent on the Flight Instructor Certificate, with an academy average of 87 per cent. Candidates who fail receive a detailed debrief and can usually retest within four weeks.

My advice: fly as you have been taught, talk through what you are doing, and if something goes wrong, deal with it the way you would on a real flight. Examiners are pilots too. We want you to pass, and we want you to be safe when we are not in the seat beside you.