1.5.1.2 Federal Aviation Administration Certificate Disapprovals and Colgan
Air Training Events
The captain’s record of FAA certificate disapprovals showed the following:
• On October 1, 1991, the captain was disapproved for his instrument airplane rating
during his initial flight check. He flew a PA-28 during the flight test, and the tasks
disapproved were ATC clearance and compliance with ATC clearance, instrument
cockpit check, partial panel32very high frequency omnidirectional radio range
(VOR) approach, nondirectional beacon (NDB) approach, and holding. He passed the
flight test for the rating on October 25, 1991. On his 2005 application for
employment with Colgan,33 the captain stated that he had failed his FAA checkride
for an instrument rating and provided the following explanation: “I missed the NDB
approach, received additional instruction, then repeated the approach and passed.”
• On May 14, 2002, the captain was disapproved for his commercial single-engine land
airplane flight certificate during his initial flight check. He flew a Cessna C-177
during the flight test, and the tasks disapproved were takeoffs, landings, go-arounds,
and performance maneuvers. (He did not report this disapproval on his application for
employment with Colgan.) He passed the flight check for the certificate on June 25,
2002.
• On April 9, 2004, the captain was disapproved for his commercial multiengine land
airplane flight certificate during his initial flight check. He flew a PA-44 during the
flight test and was notified that the entire flight portion of the practical exam would
need to be repeated. (He did not report this disapproval on his application for
employment with Colgan.) He passed the flight check for the certificate on April 29,
2004.
• On October 15, 2007, while a first officer for Colgan, the captain was disapproved for
his airline transport pilot certificate during his initial flight check. He flew a Saab 340
during the flight test, and the disapproved task was approach and landing with a
powerplant failure in a multiengine airplane. He passed the flight check for the
certificate on October 18, 2007.
Colgan’s training records indicated that the captain, while a first officer, needed
additional training in the following areas:
• On October 28, 2005, the captain was graded “train to proficiency” on his initial
proficiency check in the Saab 340. This grade indicated that his overall performance
was satisfactory but that a checkride item (in this case, normal and abnormal
procedures) needed to be repeated during the checkride.
• On October 17, 2006, the captain received an unsatisfactory grade on his recurrent
proficiency check in the Saab 340. The unsatisfactory tasks were rejected takeoffs,
general judgment, landings from a circling approach, oral exam, and nonprecision
approach. The captain attended recurrent training and completed his requalification
proficiency training on November 1, 2006.
• On October 3, 2007, the captain received an unsatisfactory grade on his upgrade
proficiency check in the Saab 340. The disapproved task was approach and landing
with a powerplant failure in a multiengine airplane (as stated previously in the FAA
information about this failed flight check). He accomplished upgrade line-oriented
flight training on October 14 and simulator training on October 14 and 15. He
completed a satisfactory upgrade proficiency checkride on October 15, 2007. (These
dates conflict with those in the FAA’s record, which indicated that the captain’s
unsatisfactory checkride occurred on October 15 and his satisfactory checkride
occurred on October
Seems like he failed the flying part of every checkride he ever took.