Expiration of the Provisional Type Rating Designation

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION N 8900.779

NOTICE

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Effective Date: 6/12/26 National Policy Cancellation Date: 6/12/27 SUBJ: Expiration of the Provisional Type Rating Designation 1. Purpose of This Notice. This notice announces clarification to guidance in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 19, Pilot Type Rating Certification. This notice contains guidance that is pertinent to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) § 61.31(a).

2. Audience. The primary audience for this notice is Flight Standards (FS) aviation safety inspectors (ASI) with oversight of designees who have Letters of Authorization (LOA) that include Restricted Category (RCAT) aircraft, 14 CFR parts 133 and 137 certificate holders (CH), 14 CFR part 91 operators who have been authorized under J551 and/or J552; and who conduct surveillance or inspector flight tasks for pilots who operate RCAT aircraft who are operating under a Provisional Type Rating. The secondary audience includes personnel working in the Civil Aviation Registry Division (AFB-700), the Office of General Aviation Safety Assurance (GASA) and the Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance (ACSA) divisions, type certificate holders (TCH) of aircraft listed on the Provisional Type Rating table, and designated pilot examiners (DPE) who conduct tests in these aircraft.

3. Where You Can Find This Notice. You can find this notice on the MyFAA employee website at https://employees.faa.gov/tools_resources/orders_notices and the Dynamic Regulatory System (DRS) at https://drs.faa.gov . Operators and the public can find this notice on the FAA’s website at https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/orders_notices and DRS.

4. Background. In February 2024, a Provisional Type Rating table was added to FAA Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 19, Figure 5-88, Pilot Certificate Aircraft Type Rating Designations—Airplane and Helicopter. This Provisional Type Rating table allows operators to continue operations until an operational evaluation to determine the applicable type rating could be scheduled with the Aircraft Evaluation Division (AED). The Provisional Type Rating lists the TCHs that have had their aircraft evaluated to determine a type rating designation by the AED. Typically, there is only one holder of a type certificate (TC) for each model of aircraft; however, the one exception to a single TCH per model of aircraft is when a former military aircraft enters the civilian market, in which case there may be multiple TCHs with similar type rating designations for the same model of aircraft. For example, there are multiple listings for the CH-47D in Figure 5-88. The CH-47D has been issued TCs that are not listed in Figure 5-88; this indicates that those aircraft have not been evaluated by the Administrator and do not have an established type rating designation. To accommodate these aircraft, a Provisional Distribution: Electronic Only Initiated By: AFS-800

6/12/26 N 8900.779 Type Rating table was added at the end of Figure 5-88. This was necessary as most of these former military aircraft are considered to be large (over 12,500 pounds maximum certificated takeoff weight), and as such require a type rating in order to act as pilot in command (PIC) under 14 CFR § 61.31(a).

5. Discussion. The FAA discovered that, in certain circumstances, pilot type ratings were being issued incorrectly. A review of airman certification applications revealed that, in some cases, examiners were conducting type rating practical tests in aircraft that did not have an established type rating designation and were issuing pilot type ratings. Pilots of those aircraft do not need to take any additional action and may continue operating in accordance with the type ratings on their certificate. DPEs and ASIs should not issue type ratings for any aircraft listed on the Provisional Type Rating table after December 31, 2026. To date, there are 7 TCHs with 12 different aircraft awaiting evaluation still listed on the Provisional Type Rating table. The Provisional Type Rating table in Figure 5-88 will expire on December 31, 2026, and will effectively ground operations of aircraft whose TCHs have not received an operational evaluation and will leave these aircraft without an applicable 14 CFR § 61.31(a) type rating for pilots to obtain for operation. AED will not issue any additional provisional type rating designations for aircraft after the aforementioned expiration date.

6. Guidance. The Figure 5-88 table expiration date for the aircraft will remain December 31, 2026. Effective January 1, 2027, Figure 5-88 will be modified to remove the Pilot Certificate Aircraft Type Designations—Provisional Type Rating Designation for Airplane and Helicopter table. TCHs who have contacted the AED and requested an operational evaluation will be kept on the Provisional Type Rating listing until December 31, 2026, and as such, those aircraft may remain in operation until receiving the type rating designation from AED or until December 31, 2026. TCHs whose aircraft have not been added to the permanent table prior to the December 31, 2026 will no longer be able to utilize the type rating designation that was assigned on the provisional table. Any TCHs with an aircraft listed on the Provisional Type Rating listing who have not contacted the AED and requested an operational evaluation for their aircraft on the Provisional Type Rating listing will be removed from Figure 5-88 after December 31, 2026; however, no impact will occur to any other aircraft the TCH has on the permanent listing in Figure 5-88.

7. Action.

a. TCHs. TCHs who have not contacted the AED should do so immediately to schedule their Flight Standardization Board (FSB) evaluation prior to the expiration of the Provisional Type Rating table. TCHs should contact the AED by email at 9-AVS-AFS-100@faa.gov.

b. Inspectors. ASIs and examiners shall only conduct pilot type rating practical tests when the TCH of the aircraft used for the practical test is listed on Figure 5-88. Should an inspector or examiner become aware that the aircraft is not on the type rating table, they should have the TCH contact the AED immediately. Operation of aircraft without a type rating designation after December 31, 2026 may be contrary to 14 CFR § 61.31. Inspectors should review their RCAT TCHs to determine applicability of this notice to operators in their area of responsibility and contact those TCHs if they have not completed the aforementioned actions.

6/12/26 N 8900.779 8. Disposition. The FAA will incorporate the information in this notice into Order 8900.1 before this notice expires. Direct questions or comments concerning the information in this notice to the General Aviation and Commercial Division (AFS-800), Training and Certification Group (AFS-810) at 202-267-1100.

Robert Reckert for Hugh Thomas Executive Director, Flight Standards Service