The FAA mandates under CFR 14, Part 65 Subpart D § 65.75 Knowledge requirements, that an applicant for a mechanics certificate must possess. The knowledge-based test, more commonly referred to as the ..
The FAA mandates under CFR 14, Part 65 Subpart D § 65.75 Knowledge requirements, that an applicant for a mechanics certificate must possess. The knowledge-based test, more commonly referred to as the “written” examinations and covers materials specific to either an airframe certificate (AMA) or a powerplant certificate (AMP) with the general (AMG) component being common to each. The prescribed level of testing for a Part 147 school is specifically outlined under § 147.38a Quality of instruction and measured by the results of the KBT examinations for all students tested and measured against a national norm. During the period of COVID both training and learning challenges have taken place throughout the system of approved institutions. This paper investigates standardized national norm scores at a pre-pandemic level and compares them to the time frame of the results during the actual pandemic using data from March 2020 up to the current period. Data gathered from the FAA Form 8080-08 collected by AFS630 was reviewed and analyzed and stratified by institution, regions, and students. A noticeable drop in the national scores and the individual scores related to each of the three testing regimes, AMG, AMA, and AMP of all the accredited schools was documented. This research endeavors to draw possible conclusions as to the underlying fundamental reasons for the phenomena as discussed, offering both insight and possible corrective actions to be considered.