"Dudley Henriques" wrote:

Your following comment, "A competent,
conscientious examiner digs on rote answers
to determine the comprehension level behind
them." is inconsistent with my experience,
and in fact is antithesis to the DE's legal
requirement to pass or fail on a minimum
standard demonstrated by the examinee.
This being said, there most surely are DE's
out here who do as you suggest, but they are
in no way required to do this and in doing so, do
so to satisfy no current FAA requirement for
certification.

If a DE is not legally required to get anything beyond a rote answer from an
applicant: (a) why require an oral exam? If all that is required is an accurate
rote answer, the knowledge (written) test satisfies that; and (b) why would it
be necessary for someone with the qualifications of a *DE* conduct the oral
exam? Nearly ANYONE is capable of asking questions that merely require only a
rote answer. What would be the point of that kind of oral exam?

I understand what you're saying about meeting the "minimum standard" ... but
there's obviously some discretion and responsibility within the "standards"
framework given to the DE to satisfy him/herself that rote answers are backed
up with some degree of understanding to meet that standard.

That said, has an applicant ever failed an oral exam after giving the correct
rote answer if he couldn't explain it further if he were questioned in more
depth? Would this be legal? Sounds to me like you're saying (above) that in
your experience, examiners don't generally go beyond just hearing the "right"
answer.