IACRA question (urgent for checkride in several hours)
Posted by agjeiofdsjk@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 20 comments
For context - I have a checkride schedule in just several hours. The DPE informed me last night that he's not seeing any applications associated with my FTN when he logged into IACRA. I was confused because I had just recently done this with my instructor. I logged into IACRA and sure enough I saw the application there on my end and it showed "Signed by RI".
I called the IACRA support phone number. To make a long story short - the person told me that because I submitted the application on a Mac - it didn't get submitted correctly. He told me something to the effect of how on Macs - there's some known issue that gets in the way of government documents that doesn't get submitted correctly. As a software guy, I found his explanation very difficult to believe. He told me that on his end - he did not see a submitted application but rather only a "started" one and suggested that I try to submit the application again on PC, which I did about 30 minutes later. Instructor then signed it. And - I do see the new application on my end and it (also) shows "Signed by RI". I called IACRA support - and they told me this new application looks to have been submitted correctly but... at this point in time - I'm not sure I trust their help/support.
DPE informed me that if the application doesn't show on his end by the time checkride is supposed to start, he's unwilling to do the checkride today... which has me concerned.
Any thoughts/suggestions? Is what I've described a known issue? To be clear - when I filled out the application (both times) - there were no errors/problems I could see at all. I really would like to avoid the issue of the checkride having to be canceled/rescheduled for this reason.
350RDriver@reddit
See if he's willing to do a paper 8710. It's not great but we always print one off as a backup.
MeatServo1@reddit
Can a DPE refuse a paper 8710? Feels like a business refusing to accept cash.
ltcterry@reddit
I’ve taken five checkrides since 2020. All done by me on my Macs. I’ve sent 40 people in the last four years to checkrides. All done on my Macs.
Federal software for some reason doesn’t always like Safari but I’ve never had a Mac-IACRA conflict.
agjeiofdsjk@reddit (OP)
makes sense. I can understand issues with the browser but I found the macOS argument really hard to believe.
agjeiofdsjk@reddit (OP)
Quick update: Ended up working out okay. For future checkrides, I'm gonna have to just check with the DPE ahead of time to make sure they can see my submitted application. Thanks to those of you who commented.
ltcterry@reddit
u/agjeiofdsjk - how did it turn out?
FarNefariousness4371@reddit
I exclusively submit 8710s via MacOS and iPadOS and never had any issues. Print off your iacra and do a paper 8710
xplayman@reddit
Double check your FTN. Everyone has been told the lie at some point, because the FAA themselves say this lie, that your FTN number never changes. Well mine did while I was still a Student Pilot, and now I have experienced it changing on a few of my students. However, your old FTN and new FTN should still link to you. I had this scary experience when my written exam FTN did not match my IACRA FTN. That said, I saw a notice a while back that people with multiple FTNs were being merged into the latest FTN.
theonlyski@reddit
The FTN *shouldn’t* change. If you log into IACRA and it doesn’t match your test result you can call the help desk to merge them.
Most commonly the applicant gets a new FTN because their info doesn’t match what’s in the system when the register for a test or certificate or medical.
Nojoyonthattraffic@reddit
Try it on an iPad. I always do it on that.
EagleE4@reddit
I’ve always done it on a Mac or an iPad
pilotofthe737@reddit
I took a checkride about a month ago, did the application on a Mac and tried to pull it up on my iPad to sign on the day of and it refused to move to the next step despite my examiner being able to see it from his side as well. I just borrowed his windows tablet and signed into my account (using chrome) from there and it all of a sudden worked perfectly. Sometimes the system is just finicky.
mambosan@reddit
I’ve submitted like 7 8710s through IACRA on my MacBook using Safari with no issues. Triple check the FTN you passed to the DPE is correct
phoenixTwoZulu@reddit
Something like this happened on mine recently. No Mac involved. Solution was resubmitting and CFI resigning.
Pilot0160@reddit
It’s safari that occasionally has problems with IACRA. That being said, I’ve never had an issue with it on an iPad but have seen a problem when on my MacBook
theonlyski@reddit
My last application was definitely submitted on a Mac and had no issues being seen by the examiner. A lot of people dog on IACRA, but it works very well in my experience (I've processed a ton of applications between my own, as an instructor and as a certifying official, very few issues and many were edge cases). I've even had applicants submit their application via iPad in front of me without issues.
I think it's more likely the DPE fat fingered your FTN, but if there's no fixing that, bang out an 8710-1 (https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/form/faa_8710-1.pdf) and have your instructor wet ink sign it to take with you on the checkride.
WoodDragonIT@reddit
A quick Google search says it's an issue with Mac web browsers not passing the information correctly, not the iOS itself.
altytwo_jennifer@reddit
You can’t be the first person to do that on a non-Windows system, but given how they haven’t even updated IACRA to allow for sport pilot check rides existing I’d not be that shocked if somehow it breaks because it doesn’t expect just a carriage return character rather than that plus a new line when you hit “enter”.
ThatLooksRight@reddit
What exactly would you like the people here to do?
I guess my suggestion is to ask your DPE if he sees your application.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
For context - I have a checkride schedule in just several hours. The DPE informed me last night that he's not seeing any applications associated with my FTN when he logged into IACRA. I was confused because I had just recently done this with my instructor. I logged into IACRA and sure enough I saw the application there on my end and it showed "Signed by RI".
I called the IACRA support phone number. To make a long story short - the person told me that because I submitted the application on a Mac - it didn't get submitted correctly. He told me something to the effect of how on Macs - there's some known issue that gets in the way of government documents that doesn't get submitted correctly. As a software guy, I found his explanation very difficult to believe. He told me that on his end - he did not see a submitted application but rather only a "started" one and suggested that I try to submit the application again on PC, which I did about 30 minutes later. Instructor then signed it. And - I do see the new application on my end and it (also) shows "Signed by RI". I called IACRA support - and they told me this new application looks to have been submitted correctly but... at this point in time - I'm not sure I trust their help/support.
DPE informed me that if the application doesn't show on his end by the time checkride is supposed to start, he's unwilling to do the checkride today... which has me concerned.
Any thoughts/suggestions? Is what I've described a known issue? To be clear - when I filled out the application (both times) - there were no errors/problems I could see at all. I really would like to avoid the issue of the checkride having to be canceled/rescheduled for this reason.
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