AircraftOwner Online

    For the purposes of this article, a “Type Certificate” is the document the FAA approved from the aircraft manufacturer detailing exactly what components and materials would be used, and how exactly they were all put together, to make the certified aircraft. The Type Certificate may only be amended by an FAA: a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), a major alteration form (Form 337), a “field approval”, or, in some cases, a logbook entry (for instance compliance with an Airworthiness Directive). All of these forms have one thing in common: they all represent some form of FAA “approval” of what has been done. Even if the aircraft is perfectly safe, without the FAA’s approval, the FAA believes that it does not comply with its Type Certificate.

    This matter was recently taken to a ridiculous extreme by the FAA. A Cessna 182 had a taxiing incident with a larger aircraft. The thin aluminum light guard that prevents the wingtip strobe from flashing in the pilot’s and passengers’ eyes was bent. There was no other damage to the 182. The pilot inspected the wing for damage, and bent the guard back into its original position. He took off without getting FAA approval for what he had done. The FAA violated him, and the violation was upheld by the NTSB. The reasoning boils down to the pilot, not having been certified and approved by the FAA as an A & P mechanic, could not be trusted to know that the bent light guard was not a sign of more serious damage. Even though there was no dispute that the aircraft was “safe”, the FAA said that the aircraft had not been certificated with a bent light guard, and the “fix” used by the pilot had not been approved by the FAA; so the pilot should have either gotten a ferry permit from the FAA, or should have had an A & P mechanic at least return the aircraft to service with a log entry.

    The FARs require that every component of an aircraft be operating prior to every flight – light bulbs, upholstery clips, lavatory sinks, coffee pots, standby instruments, etc. If it is a part of the certificated aircraft, then it is supposed to work.

    In large aircraft operating under Part 135 or Part 121, it is common to have a Minimum Equipment List (MEL), which has been approved for each particular aircraft by the FAA, which states what items are real “no go” items, and other items for which repair may be delayed while the aircraft continues on its mission. Sometimes there are special requirements for inoperative components which provide that the aircraft can only be operated with an inoperative component if several other conditions have been met. Unless you have an FAA-approved MEL for your aircraft, however, you are not entitled to operate the aircraft with any missing or inoperative components. And, if a component is NOT included on the MEL, you may not operate the aircraft legally without an FAA issued ferry permit, even if other aircraft of the exact same type have an FAA approved MEL which tells their pilots under what conditions those identical aircraft can be operated with the same inoperative component.

    Non-turbine aircraft operating under Part 91 have two alternatives to getting a ferry permit when something is not exactly the way it was when it rolled out of the factory door: 1) make, and obtain approval for, an MEL; or 2) follow the procedure in FAR 91.213(d). 91.213(d) gives the pilot the ability to make a decision about the need for any particular component. The pilot must: make a “determination that the inoperative instrument or equipment does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft”; deactivate and placard the inoperative component as “INOPERATIVE” and; make an entry in both the airframe log and the pilot’s log noting the pilot’s determination and explaining what was done. (A properly-certificated mechanic can also do the same thing.) There are two exceptions to this procedure: the inoperative component cannot be 1) “required for the specific flight operation being conducted” and 2) cannot be “required to be operational by an airworthiness directive”. If you are going to use this procedure, follow the regulation to the letter, dotting the “I’s” and crossing the “T’s”.

    There is one great case for pilots which states that not every dent, scratch, or missing screw is a deviation from the type certificate. Unfortunately, the case does not tell us when a missing screw is important, or where or how deep a dent has to be, before it is an “airworthiness” issue. If you think that this should just be a “common sense” issue, remember two things: 1) you are dealing with the FAA, and 2) it is amazing how uncommon “common sense” is. The object of this article is NOT to tell you how you can spend $20,000.00 in legal fees defending your position to the FAA and to the NTSB and maybe win if they agree with you. The object is to warn you about a trap in the regulations and to give you some tools to help you avoid becoming a victim.