Aircraft certificates & documents

A and R: certificates

Carry the appropriate, current airworthiness certificate and effective registration or other permitted registration authority. Display the airworthiness certificate at the cabin/cockpit entrance so passengers or crew can read it. Check actual aircraft identity and status, not just that a document sleeve exists.

Read the category. Standard certificates cover normal, utility, acrobatic, commuter and transport categories, manned free balloons, and FAA-designated special classes. Special certificates include primary, restricted, limited, light-sport, experimental, provisional and special flight permits. “Special” does not mean unrestricted; the certificate’s purpose and associated operating limitations determine what the aircraft may do.

14 CFR §91.203 · 14 CFR §91.9 · 14 CFR §91.7 · 14 CFR §21.175

R, O, W: check what actually applies

• Radio station license when required: ordinary domestic operations may be licensed by FCC rule; international flights/communications can change requirements. Check the relevant FCC and destination rules.
• Operating limitations: current approved manual/material, placards, and markings as applicable.
• Weight and balance: use current aircraft-specific data and comply with loading limits; the required format/carriage depends on the approved aircraft documents.

ARROW is not the wording of §91.203. Its second R involves FCC rules; O and W involve other rules and aircraft approval documents.

Match the registration and serial number, installed equipment and approved supplements to this airplane. Check weight/CG, maneuver, airspeed, powerplant and kinds-of-operation limitations in its approved material. A pilot qualification or an installed instrument does not itself authorize an operation prohibited by the aircraft’s limitations.

14 CFR §91.203 · 14 CFR §91.9 · 14 CFR §91.7

Paperwork is not the whole airworthiness check

Verify applicable inspections, AD compliance, and maintenance status as well. The aircraft maintenance logbooks are not ordinarily required aboard a routine private flight simply because the certificates are. If passenger/baggage-compartment fuel-tank provisions apply, §91.203 has an additional onboard Form 337 requirement.

The owner/operator maintains the aircraft and records; the PIC still decides whether it is safe for flight. Review the airframe, engine, propeller and relevant appliance records as applicable. A rental dispatch screen or invoice can help locate evidence, but does not replace the required signed maintenance entries. Resolve missing entries or unexplained defects before departure.

14 CFR §91.203 · 14 CFR §91.9 · 14 CFR §91.7

Which inspections apply?

For an ordinary small airplane on an annual-inspection program, build a due list from the actual records. The rules have exceptions and approved alternative programs; experimental and light-sport aircraft use their applicable inspection requirements and limitations.

• Annual: within the preceding 12 calendar months, with approval for return to service. An annual completed September 8, 2026 normally remains current through September 30, 2027. There is no automatic grace period.
• 100-hour: applies when carrying a person other than a crewmember for hire, or giving instruction for hire in an aircraft the instructor provides. Mere rental does not alone trigger this rule. An annual can satisfy the 100-hour requirement; a 100-hour inspection is not an annual unless properly authorized and recorded as one.
• Limited overrun: up to 10 hours beyond the 100-hour limit is allowed only en route to the inspection location. Those hours count toward the next interval. If due at 2,400 hours and completed at 2,407 using that allowance, the next limit is 2,500, not 2,507.

Use time in service and the records’ tracking method; do not assume any cockpit meter is automatically the regulatory clock. A current annual also does not cancel an overdue AD or equipment inspection.

14 CFR §91.409

Equipment checks have their own clocks

• ELT: when required, inspect within 12 calendar months; battery replacement/recharge also has use and useful-life triggers. See ELT inspection and battery rules.
• Transponder: to use it, the required test/inspection must be within 24 calendar months. Additional testing follows installation or maintenance that could introduce correspondence error.
• Altimeter/static/altitude reporting: the 24-calendar-month requirement applies to operation in controlled airspace under IFR, not every VFR flight. Opening/closing the static system (with specified exceptions), or certain installations/maintenance, also triggers testing for that operation.

Check the equipment and operation separately. A VFR flight may still require an operable transponder, and its inspection must be current to use it. Follow the equipment-deferral process for a defect; a due-date list is not authorization to fly with failed equipment.

14 CFR §91.207 · 14 CFR §91.411 · 14 CFR §91.413

Read the entry, not just the date

For an inspection, identify its type and extent, date, aircraft total time, the signed approval or disapproval for return to service, and the signer’s certificate number and type. An inspection that found the aircraft unairworthy produces discrepancies; the inspection date alone is not approval to fly.

A maintenance entry identifies the work (or acceptable-data reference), completion date, and the authorized approving person’s signature, certificate number and type; it also names the person doing the work if different. That approval covers the work performed. After maintenance, verify the required approval and record entry before operation. If the work may appreciably change flight characteristics or substantially affect operation, §91.407 can require an operational flight check and record before carrying passengers; ground testing/inspection may establish that such a check is unnecessary.

Records include total times, life-limited part status, overhaul status where required, current inspection status, AD status and applicable major-alteration forms. Ordinary work records are generally retained until repeated/superseded or one year; the status records in §91.417(a)(2) are retained and transferred with the aircraft. The owner must make required records available for inspection.

14 CFR §43.9 · 14 CFR §43.11 · 14 CFR §91.407 · 14 CFR §91.417

ADs and SAIBs: different kinds of information

An airworthiness directive (AD) is an enforceable rule addressing an unsafe condition in an aircraft, engine, propeller or appliance. Check the FAA’s current AD text against model, serial number, installed parts and configuration; searching only the airplane model can miss component ADs. Read the compliance time and required action, including incorporated service information and any approved alternative method of compliance (AMOC).

The records must show current applicable AD status, compliance method, AD number and revision date; a recurring AD also needs the next required action’s time/date. “Previously complied with” does not settle a recurring inspection. A modification does not automatically make an AD inapplicable; resolve the applicability or obtain FAA-approved alternative compliance as required.

A Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) communicates advisory safety information and recommendations rather than a mandatory AD action. Evaluate it with maintenance personnel. A manufacturer’s service bulletin is not automatically an AD either; it can become required through an AD or another applicable requirement. Do not use the advisory label to dismiss an actual unsafe condition.

14 CFR Part 39 · 14 CFR §91.417 · FAA SAIB overview

When a special flight permit may help

A special flight permit may authorize a specific flight by an aircraft that does not meet all applicable airworthiness requirements but is capable of safe flight. Examples include moving it for repair, maintenance or storage, delivery, or evacuation from impending danger. An overdue annual may be a reason to apply; an unsafe condition that prevents safe flight is a reason the FAA may refuse.

1. Identify the noncompliance and discuss safe-flight capability with qualified maintenance personnel.
2. Contact the responsible FAA office and apply in the FAA-prescribed manner. Supply the purpose, route, necessary crew, unmet requirements, proposed restrictions and other requested information.
3. Complete any required inspections/tests. Obtain the permit and comply with its operating limitations before the flight.

An AD may prohibit a permit or impose special conditions; check it first. The permit is not a general extension, ordinary passenger-flight authorization, or a substitute for repairing the aircraft. A pilot cannot self-issue it or use the 100-hour ferry allowance to extend an annual.

14 CFR §21.197 · 14 CFR §21.199 · 14 CFR §§39.23–39.25

Apply the certificate to the mission

A standard certificate does not authorize every maneuver or loading configuration. For example, an aircraft approved in both normal and utility categories may have different loading and maneuver limitations for each; consult its approved material rather than assuming “utility” permits any aerobatics.

Special certificates require category-specific review. Restricted-category aircraft serve approved special purposes. An experimental aircraft must operate for its authorized purpose and within its issued limitations, including any assigned test area and restrictions; do not assume a passenger trip, night flight or IFR operation is permitted. For special light-sport aircraft, check §91.327, the operating instructions, required inspections, safety directives and authorized alterations. Similar-looking aircraft can have different certification and maintenance requirements.

1. Read the certificate and its attached operating limitations.
2. Match the actual configuration and current approved/required documents.
3. Compare the proposed occupants, route, flight conditions and maneuvers with those limits.
4. Resolve any uncertainty with the owner, maintenance personnel or FAA before accepting the flight.

A generic POH downloaded for the same model cannot establish the limitations of a modified individual aircraft.

14 CFR §91.9 · 14 CFR §91.319 · 14 CFR §91.327 · FAA special airworthiness certificates

FLIGHT SCENARIO

What would change your plan?

Continue studying

Connect this lesson with related concepts:

• Understanding aircraft weight and balance data

Test your understanding with 10 related ACS questions.