Definition
An FAA team responsible for flight-checking navigation aids, instrument approach procedures, and communications facilities to confirm they meet published performance and accuracy standards. Flight inspection groups operate specially equipped aircraft that fly defined patterns around ground-based equipment such as VORs, ILS systems, and DME stations to verify the signals pilots rely on are correct.
Plain English
A government team that flies special aircraft to test ground-based navigation equipment and make sure the signals pilots use are accurate and safe.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA acronym lists and in official notices or maintenance discussions involving checks of navigation systems or instrument procedures.
Why Pilots Care
When you tune a VOR or fly an ILS, you trust the signal is accurate. That trust exists because flight inspection groups regularly verify each facility. NOTAMs sometimes mention a navaid being out of service for flight inspection — that's this team at work.
Intuition Check
FIG does not mean a diagram or figure here. In this FAA context, it means the group that checks aviation systems by flying them.
Example Sentence 1
The VOR was unavailable for several hours while a flight inspection group conducted a routine accuracy check.
Example Sentence 2
A temporary NOTAM advised pilots of possible signal fluctuations while the FIG performed checks on the ILS.