Welcome!

This site is designed to store your flight instructor records. Some instructors don’t see the value in keeping track of their sign-offs but the FAA has a different view. The FAA tracks flight instructor activity in the PTRS (Program Tracking and Reporting Subsystem) under activity code 1662. Surveillance of a Certified Flight Instructor can be a very real thing. If you doubt that then you likely have not had a public complaint; an accident or incident; or a student pilot that had an accident or incident. Well, at least not yet. If you have experience with any of the items mentioned then you likely see the value of excellent record keeping and backing up your data!

The following are excerpts:

“Accident report faults student pilot. The NTSB said that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot failing to know where he was during the flight. Other contributing factors were the dark night, the pilot failing to follow approved navigation procedures for the flight and the pilot's over-reliance on avionics in the plane.” - LARRY MAYER/Gazette Staff

“Fatal accident involving a student pilot. Student pilot on a cross country flight without training.” – One of Various Message Boards

“Student pilot ID'd; flew with instructor hours before crash. An autopsy positively identified the student pilot in Wednesday's helicopter crash.” - by KREM.com, Lindsay Chamberlain

“Student Pilot Dies In Small Plane Crash In La.” – WDSU

This is just a very small sample of student accidents. Do a Google search and you will have lots of reading material. Every student accident or incident has one or more CFI’s involved in the training. The next step after an accident or incident, procedurally, is for the FAA to get involved in accordance with 8900.1, Section 5. If you had involvement in the student’s training, regardless of the extent of your involvement, you may receive a phone call or letter from the FAA. Wouldn’t you want to be prepared? Let’s not forget that we have liability attached to all sign-offs and the burden of proof is on the instructor.

Additionally, if you sign-off more than 20 applicants per year then the FAA considers you to be a high activity CFI. Just being a high activity CFI could trigger an inspection by an aviation safety inspector (ASI). During the inspection the CFI is expected to perform to the same standards as the original issuance which basically means you need to meet the PTS standards for the flight instructor certificate that you hold. Part of that standard is knowledge of FAR 61.189, flight instructor records. Obviously if your high sign-off rate triggered the inspection then there will likely be a discussion about who you signed-off, when and for what reason.

Reducing your liability begins with thorough record keeping and we can help with that. We simplify the process, whether you are a new CFI starting out or a veteran who has a lot of data. For a very low annual cost, it only makes sense to use our service. Flight instructor record keeping made easy!

Flight Instructor Records™ is a product of Pilot Training Systems d/b/a PTS, PO Box 570234, Las Vegas, NV 89157