Narrative:

A student pilot flew solo without a student pilot certificate; in violation of AC 61-65F; requiring the student to have a student pilot certificate prior to flying solo. The student had a valid 2nd class medical. As of april 1; 2016 the medical examiner no longer issues student pilot certificates; they are now done with the help of CFI. Initially the student was flying with another instructor. After a month or so; I was the student's primary instructor. The proper endorsements were given allowing the student to fly solo. Our school has two locations; the chief pilot is at one location and the assistant chief at the other. I am at the location of the chief pilot. The chief pilot has very little to do with oversight; and instruction. The combination of the disinterested chief pilot along with the transfer of flight instructor; and the creation of a new regulation led to this occurrence. It was discovered after the student completed the solo flights. I continued flying with the student to polish off the maneuvers in preparation for the check ride. I had the student create an iacra account. I then realized that the student did not have a student pilot certificate; at this point we applied for a student pilot certificate; I then came to the realization that the student had flown the solo portion without a student pilot certificate. This is a new challenge facing cfis; because they have not had to do this prior to AC 61-65F. I believe many others have also made this mistake. The student enrollment forms have been updated at our school; and now require the CFI and the student apply for a student pilot certificate prior to receiving flight instruction (intro flight excluded). The checklist in the enrollment form has also been updated to reflect this. Once the student pilot certificate has been issued a copy will be placed in the student's folder. All instructors have been informed as to the new requirements. Cfis are currently ensuring that all of their private students have student pilot certificates. The FAA should also continue to promote the change; and keep cfis informed of the change.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Instructor reported that one of his students flew an approved solo flight before obtaining a Student Pilot Certificate via IACRA.

Narrative: A student pilot flew solo without a student pilot certificate; in violation of AC 61-65F; requiring the student to have a student pilot certificate prior to flying solo. The Student had a valid 2nd class medical. As of April 1; 2016 the Medical Examiner no longer issues student pilot certificates; they are now done with the help of CFI. Initially the student was flying with another instructor. After a month or so; I was the student's primary instructor. The proper endorsements were given allowing the student to fly solo. Our school has two locations; the Chief Pilot is at one location and the assistant chief at the other. I am at the location of the Chief Pilot. The Chief Pilot has very little to do with oversight; and instruction. The combination of the disinterested chief pilot along with the transfer of flight instructor; and the creation of a new regulation led to this occurrence. It was discovered after the student completed the solo flights. I continued flying with the student to polish off the maneuvers in preparation for the check ride. I had the student create an IACRA account. I then realized that the student did not have a student pilot certificate; at this point we applied for a student pilot certificate; I then came to the realization that the student had flown the solo portion without a student pilot certificate. This is a new challenge facing CFIs; because they have not had to do this prior to AC 61-65F. I believe many others have also made this mistake. The student enrollment forms have been updated at our school; and now require the CFI and the student apply for a student pilot certificate prior to receiving flight instruction (intro flight excluded). The checklist in the enrollment form has also been updated to reflect this. Once the student pilot certificate has been issued a copy will be placed in the student's folder. All instructors have been informed as to the new requirements. CFIs are currently ensuring that all of their private students have student pilot certificates. The FAA should also continue to promote the change; and keep CFIs informed of the change.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.