What Happens If You Fail a Type Rating Checkride?

First, a failed checkride isn't the end of the road

Failing a type rating checkride is stressful, but it is a well-defined, well-understood event in the regulatory system, not a career-ending one. The FAA's practical test standards process is built around the idea that a candidate who doesn't meet the standard on a given event gets a documented path back to another attempt, called a retest, rather than being permanently disqualified.

What actually happens next depends on how far into the checkride you were when the unsatisfactory performance occurred, what specific task or maneuver wasn't met, and whether the evaluator is an FAA examiner or a check airman operating under an air carrier's or training center's approved program.

The paperwork: what gets recorded

When an applicant does not meet the standard on a checkride, the examiner issues what is commonly called a 'notice of disapproval' or pink slip, documenting the specific area of operation and task that was unsatisfactory. This becomes part of your official airman record. It is not something that disappears, but it also is not something that automatically disqualifies you from future certificates or ratings — it simply documents that, on that date, that task wasn't demonstrated to standard.

For a retest, the FAA generally requires that the same examiner (where practical) administer it, and the retest can be limited to the specific areas of operation that were unsatisfactory, rather than requiring the entire checkride to be repeated from scratch. The exact scope is determined by the examiner and the applicable practical test standards or airman certification standards for that rating.

What retraining typically looks like

Type rating training providers build remediation into their programs precisely because checkride failures happen, especially on multi-crew, jet-transport-category type ratings where the workload and systems knowledge are demanding. Remediation usually means additional simulator sessions focused specifically on the failed task or area — whether that's an engine-out procedure, a specific approach, or a systems-knowledge gap identified during the oral portion.

The amount of additional training needed varies by individual and by what went wrong. A single missed maneuver in an otherwise strong performance might require only a short focused session before the retest, while a broader pattern of unpreparedness might call for a more substantial return to ground school and simulator repetition before scheduling another attempt.

• The notice of disapproval documents only the specific unsatisfactory areas of operation
• A retest can often be limited to those specific tasks rather than the full checkride
• Remediation training is typically targeted at the identified weak area
• Scheduling a retest depends on examiner and simulator availability, so plan for some lead time

Does it affect future airline hiring?

Applicants worry, understandably, about how a checkride failure will look to a future employer. Airlines do review training records, including PRIA (Pilot Records Improvement Act) history, and a documented failure will be visible. In practice, airlines and hiring boards are far more interested in the full pattern of your training record than in a single event — how you responded, whether you completed remedial training, and whether you passed the retest cleanly.

A single, appropriately remediated checkride failure early in a career is a common and survivable event for many working airline pilots. What tends to matter more to hiring departments is a pattern of repeated failures across multiple checkrides, which raises different questions than an isolated event that was corrected.

How to reduce the odds before you go in

The best defense against a checkride failure is a training program that builds in enough simulator repetition, honest progress checks, and oral-exam preparation before the actual event, so that by the time you sit for the checkride you've already demonstrated the required tasks under realistic conditions. Type rating courses for aircraft like the A320, A330, ATR 42/72, B737 NG/MAX, B737 Classic and combined B757/767 typically run 28 to 40 days depending on the aircraft, which is meant to give candidates the repetition needed to arrive at the checkride prepared rather than rushed.

If you're choosing a training provider, ask specifically how they structure progress checks before the final checkride and what their process looks like if a candidate needs additional simulator time. A program that treats readiness checks as a normal part of the process, rather than an afterthought, tends to produce more confident candidates on checkride day.