DGCA: Pilot licence examination results

[a330_wingspan_love]

hi folks,
i was just looking at the exam results published on the dgca website

Examination Results

looks like a good number of guys/gals flunked.......as someone who will be writing in the future i would like to know what is the difficulty level of the exams. and for the conversion from a foreign CPL which exams are required (some CPL holders appear to have written more then 3)

thanks.

[lastdon]

Find a pin in hay stack?

See, its more because there is NO defined structure for the examination and its content.

And moreover many of them opt not to go for ground school in india as they are way beyond the term "AFFORDABLE".

Gosh....... i know many deserving candidates passing the exams with the help of "Keep Walking.......(Hope u got the point)"........

Sorry but i guess DGCA has just not been able to tap the GA side to allow enough candidates to pass. May be failing them just avoids the market flooding with many aspiring candidates.......

Cheers

[Arcane]

See, its more because there is NO defined structure for the examination and its content.

And moreover many of them opt not to go for ground school in india as they are way beyond the term "AFFORDABLE".

Gosh....... i know many deserving candidates passing the exams with the help of "Keep Walking.......(Hope u got the point)"........

Sorry but i guess DGCA has just not been able to tap the GA side to allow enough candidates to pass. May be failing them just avoids the market flooding with many aspiring candidates.......

Excuses.
It really isn't DGCA's fault if the rich kids come back from America thinking the exams here will be exactly the same. All it requires is for someone to sit down and study. How do you think the (minority, apparently) passed the exams ? By paying a few lakhs to the right people ? Surely, not all !
About ground school not being affordable - well, in that case, FLYING isn't affordable, is it ? Flying = 25 lakhs. Ground school = 50k-70k.

@a330

The DGCA Composite exam is extremely easy to clear provided you put in a couple of months of dedicated study. I wouldn't worry about it much. Just don't expect it to be like the exams in America/other such country.
Heck, take a look at the JAA syllabus. They have to give 14 exams. We have to give one.
Anyway, all the best.

[av8r76]

A quick pdf search reveals approx 5800 fails and 3300 passes.

Not a bad ratio considering the ambiguity and secrecy that surrounds the paper and the syllabus.

[Schumi - Red Baron]

If you study then the DGCA exams are easy to pass... There are basic questions in what they ask and you should know the answers if you are a pilot... If you observe most of the students who fail are chavs... Yes there are few students who studied and failed because they messed up few questions in DGCA but they pass the next time...

The problem is when the non- IR guys are asked to pass the exams (which is the case with helicopter pilots)... The heli guys are asked questions about fixed wing...But even they pass after studying... So, there's nothing scary about these exams...

And yes a bit of guidance does help for sure...

Good luck...

[Sky Dancer]

It's quite interesting to see the various theories that are propounded about why the pass rate is poor.The simple reason is that the candidates simply did not prepare for the exams.It's time people stopped blaming the DGCA and everyone else possible and make an effort themselves.

[lastdon]

To Arcene and Sky Dance

Arcane,

I like your attitude which just makes me feel that you are one hard working person willing to slog it through.

Good to see that.

But im not sure if you had any experience with the BABUS. So making a smiley with the TERM "EXCUSES" is surely not something which will prove your point. Im not just ASSUMING, im talking with CONVICTION. Get REAL. Its not that bad as you seem to make out of my post, but it surely is a MESS.

First and foremost, you need to understand that i do not undermine the efforts being made by sincere students. India is surely full to the brim with talent. But how are you going to shape their skills into making them a responsible AIRMEN?

Tell me if im wrong in saying that the DGCA still have agents to whom you pay a hefty bribe to get through.

Correct me if im wrong in saying that most people still have no clue about the examination format and the horizon for study material.

And last but not the least, read the post by AGENT123 and specifically point number 4.

Also,

It really isn't DGCA's fault if the rich kids come back from America thinking the exams here will be exactly the same.

I feel you need not be so harsh on some genuine kids, who also happen to be rich. Its like a generalised statement with no BASIS. There are still many non so super rich people still stuck up with these BABUS.

And then you went ahead and took liberty to compare JAA with COMPOSITE paper. Its good that you are putting your views here, but what you just did was compare apples with oranges.

Well back to the thread,

@Sky Dancer,

It's time people stopped blaming the DGCA and everyone else possible and make an effort themselves.

Dont you think we all would have loved this too? There are surely many aspiring candidates who have passed the exams with their hard work. But failing the exams is not just when one does not put in efforts, there are still some factors as discussed.

Well just as you all im also aspiring wannabe. And trust me i hope that DGCA overhauls itself.

Happy contrails.......

[Schumi - Red Baron]

And last but not the least, read the post by AGENT123 and specifically point number 4.

Well, it's strange that you belive in those things... I thought that the result is computer generated (and checking is also via computer)... I think it's time to get real and stop saying or beliving something randomly... Stop making excusses and start working... Thousands have passed, so why can't you...


I am not defending DGCA.. Infact I am sick of DGCA but sometimes we are also at fault and need to improve ourselves...I know nothing in DGCA is organised... No one knows the syllabus for the exams (not even the DGCA officals )... Format of exam keeps on changing just like weather... The whole exam is made by the whims and wishes of one person (whom so ever gets the oppurtunity to make it)... It's corrupt from top to bottom but is it going to change anytime soon... nope... so, better for everyone to start working the DGCA way...

[Arcane]

@lastdon

Look, I've already expressed my opinion. I stand by what I said - if you want to pass, you will ! No two ways about it.
You won't hear me defending DGCA on too many issues, but this is one I honestly feel isn't their fault. You can take a horse to water, but.....

And then you went ahead and took liberty to compare JAA with COMPOSITE paper. Its good that you are putting your views here, but what you just did was compare apples with oranges.

It was supposed to compare the workload faced by the JAA people versus that faced by us(those returning from the US).

I feel you need not be so harsh on some genuine kids, who also happen to be rich. Its like a generalised statement with no BASIS. There are still many non so super rich people still stuck up with these BABUS.

Granted, it was a generalized statement. No basis ? Hardly. You have the rich and spoiled and the not-so-rich and spoiled. End result is - both blame the world for their woes. Can't pass the DGCA exam ? DGCA's fault. Can't get your RT license ? That damn examiner's fault ! Didn't clear the PPL checkride ? "I got lost only this time, that's no reason to fail me !". Excuses.
Fact is, DGCA isn't going to change. What can we do to make the system work for us ?

[tangowithtushar]

my humble views :)on the exams

its a little overwhelming to express one's views amongst such esteemed group of pilots... pprune is 1 forum where discussions are held maturely and professionally and is devoid of the usual "best flying club in the world and cpl in 6 months" banter....
to cut long thing short id just say i felt tempted to pitch in with my views as i felt the discussion going nowhere... after the 50 hr rule which left guys like me running along the length and breadth of the country to find a suitable club for flying in India only to leave Indian shores for better GA equipped countries like Canada Australia and usa, life came 1 full circle for me when i could clear my conversion papers in 1 shot and saved myself the unwanted expense of recency..
i must admit as aspiring pilots what we do best is crib about DGCA i wont say i didn't.. in fact most of the criticism that DGCA attracts is not unwarranted.... most of us have been through RED TAPE etc. but the fact that passing dgca exams is a herculean task is far fetched .... i got 79 percent in navigation composite and 70 exact i was satisfied with my jan 09 nav result cos it had been good enough to pass but not 95 plus attempt... what made the whole thing creepy was that i saved myself in regs by pasing exactly at 70.. YES i was relieved but i felt i had done better but what puzzled me was that why most of the guys were given EXACT 70 nd not above or below... my paper had gone well so 70 was not expected but scrolling through the pdf. file i observed most of the guys passed by the skin of the teeth like me 70 .. Thank God Pheww!!and the highest in regs was not above 80 if im correct ... i know this does make us smell a rat in the results and even im interested in the "sting operation" that one of the members claims to have carried off...

so the question to my seniors in this field is that how come only a single digit percentage of people could clear regulations in jan attempt and that too with border line scores ...???

and to people who will attempting the exams in the future id just say give it your best shot.... and dont think about "things are rigged no use .. people pay to pass"
be comprehensive with gsp's and what our instrument rating books taught us in us or canada ... there our some excellent teachers out there and i consider it a good investment ... to freshen up our basics with them ...its always worth it... with 3 months to prepare for the exam ... the syllabus is nothing as compared to how much we had studied for our intermediate or graduation exams..its not easy but yes its not rocket science..

best of luck

cheers

[spedfast]

@agent123, I am not sure how successful your sting operation was, but DGCA does not check your OMR sheets ( and isnt everyone grateful for that !)
The OMRs are handed over to the National Informatics Center ( the guys who are the nic in dgca.nic.in )
They scan your OMRs and prepare the result, which is then put up on the website (by guess who, NIC again).
The CEO, RK Puram is then given the responsibility of posting out the result cards to you.
So you see, apart from setting the, quite frankly completely ridiculours question paper at times, DGCA has a very limited role in the whole process.
What the process needs is transperancy. if the answers to the DGCA exam were published, then everyone would know where they stand and no one would be left wondering how they scored so few.

[Schumi - Red Baron]

Schumi ... It's funny to see the way you're contradicting yourself in the two paragraphs of yours above !!

You're outright rejecting the theory of people being randomly and purposely failed by the DGCA, ... YET ... in your second paragraph you're very vehemently spitting fire on the DGCA for being corrupt !!!

Mate, being corrupt and failing about 25-35% students without any reason is completely different... I was saying that the results are fair enough... The person who studies passes and who doesn't, well you can see the result...

In the second para, if you read it carefully, then you will notice i was speaking about the (mis)management of DGCA and the lack of proper structure for conducting exams...

I knew that there would be someone who will pop out with the question that the official might play with the software for result... But then again, you can blame everything and anything in the world to be wrong... Can't you...

And agent123 have you passed your exams... If yes, which agent did you paid the few lakhs to pass... And if you haven't then why is it that you are always failing... Is that the reason you believe about those 500-1000 students being failed...

[shanx]

Hi Everyone ,

everyone seems to be complaining about the system and the DGCA etc ..

While I would agree to some of whats been written, I however feel we can be more proactive in our approach ..

Agreed, there's no official question bank or sample question papers issued by the DGCA for the exams, but that does not mean all of us here can not compose our very own "unofficial" question bank !!

I have a suggestion ... why dont we all start a new thread and post questions in there which came in your respective papers in different subjects .. along with the solutions. ? That way we're all helping each other out... if someone does not know or does not have the solution/answer to any question, we can always put it up for discussion. Im sure everyone in this forum will be willing to do so !! There are also a lot of senior pilots in this forum as well (both Indian and expats) who Im sure can also lend us a helping hand.

[Canuck15]

My bit

Here's what I have from some exams


1) In Southern Hemisphere flying from High to Low and flying constant heading, initial heading will be:
a) Left of the track.
b) Right of the track
c) Initially left and than right of the track.
d) Initially right and than left of the track.
2) What are the inputs to the Wind shear computer?
a) Static, Pitot, RA
b) Vertical gyro, AOA transducer and temp.
c) Same as ADC
d) B & A are correct.
3) How doest the wind shear computer generates a warning?
a) It monitors the changes in ground speed and indicated airspeed.
b) It monitors the variation in vertical speed.
c) It monitors the variation in ground speed and compares it with indicated airspeed.
d) It monitors the changes in temperature.
4) In Radio Altimeter the formula used to calculate the height uses the time period for waves to return as:
a) Half the time
b) Total time
c) Double time
d) None of the above
5) Flying in constant head wind and the TAS is reduced, the DCP will:
a) Increase
b) Decrease
c) No changes
6) Flying in nil wind conditions and the TAS is reduced, the DCP will:
a) Increase
b) Decrease
c) No changes
7) The DPNR is 800 nm. During flight it is observed that the TW is 40 kts rather than 20 kts. New DPNR?
a) 800 nm
b) Less than 800 nm
c) More than 800 nm
d) Not enough information to calculate the answer.
8) In Cyclonic storm wind speed is
a) 34 knots to 63 knots
b) 34 knots to 48 knots
c) Less than 34 knots
d) More than 63 knots
9) If you are flying at 30000 feet, which chart will you use:
a) 300 mb
b) 180 mb
c) 200 mb
d) 600 mb
10) LMT at 15S 000E is 15:23 on 22 July 2006. What is the GMT and date at 50S 180W?
a) 15:23 on 22/7/06
b) 03:23 on 22/7/06
c) 15:23 on 23/7/06
d) 03:23 on 23/7/06
11) It’s reported as break in monsoon, the rain fall can be experienced in:
a) Sub Himalayan western Bengal
b) Ganges area of western Bengal
c) NW India
d) Central India
12) You are flying at constant power and you fly in a region of low temperature. TAS will:
a) Increase and true altitude will Increase
b) Decrease and true altitude will decrease
c) Decrease and true altitude will Increase
d) Increase and true altitude will decrease.
13) When a “tempo” is given in a TAF, what is the maximum duration of tempo:
a) 2 hours
b) 4 hours
c) 30 minutes
d) Less than an hour.
14) What conditions are associated with dissipating thunderstorms:
a) Rain fall
b) Up drafts
c) Down draft
d) Up drafts and down drafts
15) When will the SPECI be issued on the bases of Winds?
a) Wind changes from 180/05 to 210/10
b) Wind changes from 180/10 to 210/05
c) Wind changes from 210/05 to 280/10
d) Wind changes from 210/05 to 270/05
16) Once triggered “Terrain Terrain Pull Up”, how often the EGPWS warning is repeated until the aircraft is in safe environment?
a) Every 7 seconds
b) Every 10 seconds
c) Every 15 seconds
d) Non stop
17) What is the descending order of composition of gases in the environment?
a) N2, O2, A2, H2
b) O2, N2, A2, H2
c) N2, H2, O2, A2
d) N2, A2, O2, H2
18) Three elements in Pitch attitude are:
a) Air density, airspeed and weight.
b) Weight, power and airspeed.
c) Temperature, power and weight.
19) The time taken to complete a 360 degrees turn at rate 3 is:
a) 40 seconds
b) One minute
c) Two minute
d) Three minute
20) What is the sequence of marker beacons:
a) Outer Marker Blue, Middle marker Amber, Inner Marker White
b) Outer Marker White, Middle Blue, and Inner Amber
c) Outer Marker Amber, Middle White and Inner Blue.
21) When is it said to be absolute stable:
a) When ELR>SALR
b) When ELR<SALR
c) When ELR>DALR
d) When ELR<DALR
22) If an aircraft flies from position 50S 90W at a ground speed of 400 knots, one hour north, one hour east, one hour south followed by on hour west. The position reached will be:
a) West of original position
b) East of original position
c) North of original position
d) South of original position.
23) ACAS, RA stands for:
a) Radar Advisories
b) Radar Active
c) Range Advisory
d) Resolution Advisory
24) Flying at constant power in nil wind conditions; over a period of time:
a) Ground nm per hour will decrease
b) Ground nm per hour will increase
c) Ground nm per hour will remain same
25) The symbol “////” is used to indicate:
a) 24 hours of twilight.
b) 400 ft of runway available.
c) 24 hours of night.
d) Met conditions not available.
26) Pilot is landing at an airport where airport elevation is 7000’. What will be indicated airspeed:
a) Same as MSL, higher power may be required.
b) Same as MSL and lower power will be required.
c) Less than MSL
d) More than MSL.
27) In AWR, heavy precipitation is shown in :
a) Red
b) Yellow
c) Green
d) Not displayed
28) A tropical low pressure system is distinguished from an extra tropical low by:
a) Frontal Characteristics
b) Wind speed
c) Pressure distribution
d) None of the above
29) Ekman layer is the layer of atmosphere:
a) Below 0.9 km
b) Between surface and 100 mts.
c) Above 3.1 km
d) Between 10 to 20 km
30) Storm surge primarily depends on:
a) SST
b) Temperature of the core of the storm
c) Pressure
d) Winds
31) For 3D navigation and position fixing by Satellites using GPS, how many minimum satellites are required:
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6
32) What does a GPS receiver measures to compute its position?
a) The range from satellites
b) The difference in time from signal transmission and reception
c) The Doppler difference in signal speed from transmission to reception
d) The difference between satellite clock and receiver clock.
33) How does the GPS receiver determines from which satellites it is receiving the signal?
a) Each satellite uses its own frequency
b) The signals are sent on the same frequency and coded
c) Each satellite sends its signals at different times
d) The signals are sent on different frequencies are coded

34) Under normal circumstance, a DME station can transmit ranges to:
a) 50 aircrafts locked on to it.
b) 100 aircrafts locked on to it.
c) 50 aircrafts in search mode
d) 100 aircrafts in search more.
35) What does the “land/sea” switch of Doppler system do?
a) It reduces sea movement error
b) It increases the calculated groundspeed by 1%
c) It switches the memory circuit when flying over calm sea
d) It compensates for coastal effects
36) Reception of signals from an off-airway radio facility may be inadequate to identify the fix at designated MEA. In this case, which altitude is designated for the fix?
a) MRA
b) MAA
c) MCA
d) MOCA
37) ATC may assign the MOCA when certain conditions exists, and when within
a) 22 NM of a VOR
b) 25 NM of a VOR
c) 30 NM of a VOR
d) 35 NM of a VOR
38) If no MCA is specified, what is the lowest altitude for crossing a radio fix, beyond which a higher minimum applies?
a) The MEA at which the fix is approached.
b) The MRA at which the fix is approached.
c) The MAA for the route segment beyond the fix.
d) The MOCA for the route segment beyond the fix.
39) Question on TAF but actual TAF was missing in the exam paper !!!
40) Question on TAF but actual TAF was missing in the exam paper !!!
These Questions were four marks each
41) Calculate Moonrise time in GMT at 45N, 120W (almanac was provided)?
42) Flight A to B total distance 600 NM. The aircraft flies at constant TAS, with winds for three different distances within 600 NM. The question asked to calculate average wind speed?
Flight A to C via B with alternate Y. In event of engine failure aircraft to return to Y via B. Total fuel on board is 1900 lbs. Route details are as below:
Route Track W/V Dist. TAS N TAS E/F F/C N F/C E/F DCP-535 NM
A-B 075 090/10 340 220 180 240 lbs/hr 190 lbs/hr TCP-2:34
B-C 120 110/15 760 220 180 240 190 DPNR-831 NM
B-Y 300 110/10 460 220 180 240 190 TPNR-4:00

43) Find distance and time to CP in the event of an engine failure?
44) Find distance and time to PNR in the event of an engine failure?
Question 45-56 on flight planning. All the flight planning questions were three marks each!!
Route details were given, the flight planning involved two climbs. First one from 1000 to 16000 feet. Second one from 16000’ to 19000’. In both cases the air NM and time in minutes for climb could be found and that had to be converted to TAS for climb. Other than this the Flight planning was pretty straight forward. Total 11 questions with first one as catch question.
MTOW: 124,000 lbs RTOW: 121,500 lbs. Start up and Taxi fuel (from chart): 750 lbs.
45) What is the TOW? 121,500 – 750 = 120,750 lbs (many students used 124000 – 750 to calculate the answer).
Question 46 to 51 were based on the actual flight plan itself

[lastdon]

Good Idea SHANX

Hi SHANX,

I guess one can open a new one with something like "DGCA-Un-Official Question Bank Series".

I must say, one of the best ideas in recent days!!

Let us know once u do that.....(Sorry if something like that already exists, im not aware!!)

Cheerz

[ninja_turtle]

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far...pers-exam.html

Please feel free to add on it what you know ..

And that was very well done Canuck15 , thanks for putting it up Buddy ..

[Canuck15]

no problem

no problem guys

i have the answers to the above exam as well ...i'll put them up in a few days

regards

[Mayur Poddar]

DGCA India Pilot Exam Results Matrix And Statistics

If you want a good look at the pilot exam scores, click your way to DGCA India Pilot Exam Results Matrix And Statistics.

Cheers

[manjeet2253]

kind attention spedfast

At the risk of sounding rude.Please dont open your trap if you are not sure of things because its irritating and annoying.NIC which stands for NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTREThe NIC offers telecommunications-networking services including Ku band (TDMA,[clarification needed] FTDMA, SCPC & satellite broadband) VSATs, wireless metropolitan-area networks (MANs) and local-area networks (LANs) with gateways for Internet- and Intranet-resource sharing.It is the network infrastructure and e-governance support to India's central government and state governments, union-territory administrations, administrative divisions and other government bodies. The NIC assists in implementing information-technology projects, in collaboration with central and state governments, in the areas of:Centrally sponsored schemes and central-sector schemes, State-sector- and state-sponsored projects, and administrative-division-sponsored projects. These people only helps in updation of data and keep a check on fradulent activities like hacking into government databse,duplication of data etc etc.DGCA is solely responsible for checking ,correcting,and keeping records and after compiling the results they hand over the result to NIC in a compact disk or any other storage device.THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CHECKING AND CORRECTING THE PAPER.Its DGCA who is incharge and boss for fair and unfair means.Again apologies for being rude.

[flapless wings]

manjeet2253

I totally agree with you manjeet2253 these people should think and speak and should realise if they shoot s*** with confidence people will realise how stupid these youngesters are.