Aryan · Founder, Ready Aviator · 18 June 2026

Most pilots didn't clear every paper on the first try. Here's what's actually normal.

We counted how many sittings it really takes to clear DGCA CPL papers. Failing one along the way is the standard route, and the people in the orange bars are flying today.

Directorate General of Civil AviationEvery published result

Attempts

Fail at least one paper71 in 100
Air Navigation averageAbout two sittings
Carrying a failed paper16,121
Retakes are the normNo cap on attemptsThe method is what changes
7 in 10Fail at least one paper on the way through.
Nearly 4 in 10Needed more than one sitting to clear Air Navigation.
About 1 in 6Needed three or more.
30 in 100Air Navigation papers written that pass.
Air Navigation

Sittings it took the people who cleared it

Everyone who cleared Air Navigation: how many sittings it tookPer 100 students who have passed the paper, 2024 – April 2026
Cleared on the 1st sitting62
2nd sitting21
3rd sitting9
4th sitting or later7

The orange bars are people who are flying their dream today after failing this paper at least once.

Counted from every DGCA CPL result published since 2024. 824 students have sat the paper five or more times, and the record is 14. Persistence is not the missing ingredient.

What actually changes it

A retake with the same prep gets the same odds

Air Navigation passes 30 of every 100 papers written, and 16,121 students are carrying at least one failed paper right now. What separates a second attempt from a fifth is working through solutions step by step rather than rereading the same notes harder.

Practise the real papers

Change the method, not the effort

Five per chapter, open, with the working underneath.

Question 5 of 20Answer shown

What is the highest latitude listed below at which the sun will reach an altitude of 90⁰ above the horizon at some time during the year?
a23⁰b45⁰c66⁰

How the answer is reached

  1. The sun is overhead somewhere on the earth every day, and that point moves north and south with the seasons.
  2. Because the axis is tilted 23½°, the point stops at 23½° north in June and 23½° south in December. It never goes past either.
  3. 45⁰ and 66⁰ are both outside that band, so the sun never stands at 90⁰ over them.

Answer 23⁰the only latitude in the list inside the band

Open the question bank
Keep reading
The DGCA question bankPast papers, for calibrationMock tests under the clockThe syllabus, paper by paper