Definition
Pilots who hold a current pilot certificate issued by the FAA, authorizing them to act as pilot in command or in another specified pilot capacity within the limits of that certificate and any associated ratings.
Plain English
Pilots who have earned an official FAA license that allows them to legally fly an aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA handbooks when the text is talking about people who already have pilot approval, rather than people who are just beginning flight training.
Derivation
From the Latin certificare, meaning 'to make certain.' A certificated pilot is one whose qualifications have been formally confirmed by the FAA. The FAA uses 'certificated' rather than 'certified' as a deliberate legal term to refer specifically to holders of an FAA-issued certificate.
Why Pilots Care
Determines who is legally authorized to fly and under what conditions.
Intuition Check
Do not read certificated pilots as simply “experienced pilots” or “good pilots.” Here it means pilots who hold official FAA pilot approval, with specific legal limits.
Example Sentence 1
Only certificated pilots with the appropriate ratings may carry passengers in an aircraft.
Example Sentence 2
The regulation applies to all certificated pilots operating under visual flight rules.