FAA Updates Bank of Sample Knowledge Test Questions

As part of the overhaul that the FAA’s pilot certificate testing system went through beginning in 2011, the agency has produced a regular update of several components of the system, and communicated those changes through its main training and testing page on the FAA website.

A recent update that becomes active on March 29 includes editorial updates to the bank of sample questions that the FAA releases for each of the primary certification and rating levels: private, instrument, commercial, flight instructor, and airline transport pilot for airplanes, rotorcraft, and gliders. Those changes will be followed by a more in-depth update planned for June 28, later this year. Pilots and instructors can also anticipate an update to the Airplane Flying Handbook in June 2021, and to the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge in September 2022. An addendum to the PHAK was released on February 10, 2021, explicitly stating that because marijuana remains an illegal drug at the federal level, its use is prohibited by pilots and other FAA certificate holders.

You can access a summary of the recently released updates along with the planned-changes schedule on the site as well. You’ll want to bookmark the FAA’s training and testing page if you are working towards a new certificate or rating, or if you’re an instructor needing to keep up with changes for your students.