How Do You Obtain a Student Pilot Certificate After a Break in Training?

Old style student certificate/medical. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

Question: I am a newly certificated flight instructor, and a lapsed student pilot has asked me to finish his training. He has one of the old paper student pilot certificates dated 2002. How do I fill out the integrated airman certification and rating application (IACRA) without messing things up if he already has a student certificate on file?

Answer: You're in luck. The paper student pilot certificate was issued by the aviation medical examiner (AME) and not done through IACRA as we know it, so it is doubtful the learner already has an IACRA account.

READ MORE: Is There an Official Weather Briefing

All you have to do is sit down with the learner and create a new application. Simply follow the prompts and fill out the application. In a few weeks he will get a plastic student pilot certificate in the mail.

Also, don't forget to also verify the learner's citizenship and give him a TSA endorsement, which have become requirements since 2002.

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, flight training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

ask flying CFI Flight Training student pilot certificate

Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.