The simulated engine failure on the checkride and the first thing most applicants forget to do

The single most common mistake during the simulated engine failure on the private pilot checkride isn’t poor field selection or a botched restart flow — it’s failing to pitch for best glide speed immediately. Applicants who have practiced dozens of power-off scenarios still skip this critical first step when the examiner pulls the throttle to idle, and it accounts for a significant share of unsatisfactory grades on this task.

Why Do Applicants Forget to Fly the Airplane First?

Checkride adrenaline changes everything. The throttle comes to idle, and the applicant’s eyes immediately go outside scanning for a landing spot. Hands reach for the checklist or start touching switches. Meanwhile, airspeed is bleeding off because the nose was never pushed forward. The applicant is decelerating toward a stall while trying to troubleshoot an engine that isn’t actually broken.

The fix is deceptively simple: fly the airplane first. Everything else comes after.

What the Airman Certification Standards Actually Require

The ACS for the private pilot practical test, under Emergency Approach and Landing (Task 6.B), lists the first performance criterion after recognizing the emergency: establish and maintain the best glide speed. Not finding a field. Not running the restart flow. Best glide speed — pitch for it immediately.

Best glide speed isn’t just an oral exam number. It’s the pitch attitude you set with your hands and eyes the instant things go wrong:

• Cessna 172: 68 knots indicated
• Piper Cherokee 140: 73 knots indicated

Whatever your airplane, that number should live in your fingertips.

How to Build the Correct Engine Failure Sequence

Step one: The throttle comes to idle. Lower the nose to the best glide attitude. Don’t look at the airspeed indicator first — put the nose where you know it belongs from practice. Then confirm airspeed is trending toward your number. This takes about two seconds and buys you everything: time, energy, and options.

Step two: Pick a field. The examiner isn’t looking for a golf course. They want a field that is into the wind, relatively flat, long enough, and reachable given your altitude and position. A harvested cornfield works. A wide dirt road works. An actual airport works even better if one is within gliding distance.

Pick the best option you can see within 15 seconds, then commit. Changing fields halfway through the glide turns a manageable situation into a disaster. Changing your target at 800 feet AGL is a red flag for the examiner.

Step three: Work the restart checklist. The flow varies by airplane, but the logic is universal — check the things that could have caused the failure and are easy to fix:

• Fuel selector — on both, or on a tank with fuel?
• Mixture — full rich?
• Carburetor heat — pulled on (carbureted engines)?
• Primer — locked?
• Magnetos — try left, then right, then back to both

Do this methodically, not frantically. Look at each item, move it, check for a response — all while maintaining best glide speed and tracking toward your field.

How to Handle Wind and Altitude Management

Wind awareness separates polished applicants from panicked ones. Landing downwind on a short field means higher ground speed, longer rollout, and a real chance of overrunning the far end. Even in a simulated scenario, the examiner expects you to think about wind direction:

• Look at smoke or dust
• Check lakes for wind streaks
• Remember what the ATIS reported before departure
• Plan your pattern to put final approach into the wind

For altitude management, the guiding principle is straightforward: it’s always better to be slightly high than slightly low. You can lose altitude with S-turns, a wider pattern, or a slip. You cannot add altitude without a working engine. High gives you options. Low gives you trees and fence posts.

Don’t Forget to Brief the Passenger

Many applicants skip this entirely. You don’t need a speech — a simple statement works: “We’ve lost engine power. I’m flying us to a safe landing spot. Please tighten your seatbelt and be ready to open your door before touchdown.”

The examiner wants to see that you thought about the human being next to you, not just the machine.

What a Passing Scenario Looks Like

You’re at 4,500 feet MSL over terrain at 1,000 feet elevation, giving you roughly 3,500 feet AGL. The examiner pulls the power. You pitch for best glide. In a Cessna 172 at that altitude, you have approximately six minutes of glide time covering about eight nautical miles — that’s significant range.

You spot a long, flat agricultural field two miles to your right. Wind was reported from the south at eight knots. You plan a left downwind for a southbound landing. You run through your restart flow. You brief your imaginary passenger. You set up a modified pattern — high key, low key, aiming for the near third of the field. At about 1,200 feet AGL, the examiner calls the exercise complete.

You passed — not because you found the perfect field, but because you flew the airplane first, made decisions in the right order, and demonstrated a logical process.

When Will the Examiner Pull the Power?

Expect the unexpected. The examiner may pull the throttle during a climb-out from a touch and go, a crosswind turn in the traffic pattern, or straight and level at altitude while discussing something else entirely. That’s intentional — they want to see if your response is trained and immediate, or if you freeze.

The antidote to freezing is repetition. Practice until best glide is your default reaction to silence from the engine, not something you have to remember.

How to Prepare Before Your Checkride

Go up with your instructor and have them pull the power at random times. Practice until each step is muscle memory:

• Set best glide speed within 3 seconds
• Pick a field within 15 seconds
• Run the restart flow from memory
• Brief your passenger
• Plan a pattern with wind awareness

The ACS is clear: unsatisfactory performance includes failure to establish best glide speed promptly, poor judgment in field selection, and failure to follow the appropriate emergency checklist. Those three items account for the vast majority of failures on this task — and all three are fixable with deliberate practice.

Key Takeaways

• Pitch for best glide speed immediately — before scanning for fields or running checklists. This is the number-one step applicants skip under checkride pressure.
• Pick a field within 15 seconds and commit. The examiner wants decisiveness, not perfection. Changing fields below 800 feet AGL is a red flag.
• Work the restart checklist methodically, not frantically — fuel selector, mixture, carb heat, primer, magnetos — while maintaining best glide speed.
• Always plan to land into the wind and manage altitude so you arrive slightly high rather than slightly low.
• Brief your passenger. One simple sentence shows the examiner you’re thinking beyond the machine.

References: FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS), Airplane Flying Handbook Chapter 17 — both available as free downloads from the FAA.