SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-static-blockage-descent

With a partly blocked static system, what does the altimeter show while you descend?

Higher than actual, because static pressure lags behind.

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  1. Exactly the right altitude
  2. Lower than actual
  3. Higher than actual ✔

Why: A restricted static port slows the air reaching the altimeter, so it lags while you descend. The instruments make the airplane look too high, too fast and descending too slowly.

Huh, didn't know that: The AFH warns a partial static blockage may show nothing wrong during takeoff, climb and cruise, then appear once you descend.

The dad joke
My altimeter said I was higher than I was. Must have been reading my mind on payday.
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References

Answer: Higher than actual. A restricted static port slows the air reaching the altimeter, so it lags while you descend. The instruments make the airplane look too high, too fast and descending too slowly.

  1. Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3C, Chapter 18 www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/airplane_handbook/19_afh_ch18.pdf
    While descending, the altimeter may indicate that the airplane is higher than actual
    Checked 2026-10-09.

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