Commercial Pilot (Airplane)
Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan
The Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan covers the knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with airworthiness requirements, including airplane certificates.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Introduction
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Attention Getter:
- Research a mishap case study:
- Airworthiness Case Studies
- Preventive Maintenance Case Studies
- Discuss how the initial conditions developed into an incident/accident/mishap.
- Relate similar personal experiences of the same type of incident/accident/mishap.
- Consider incorporating a case study as a guided scenario.
- Research a mishap case study:
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Motivator:
- Federal Aviation Regulation 91.7 states, "No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition."
- To understand airworthiness requirements, we must define what it means to be airworthy.
- To determine airworthiness, the pilot must examine several documents and inspection records.
- The pilot must have certain documents that demonstrate they are legal to fly.
- Aircraft can be flown with inoperative equipment.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Materials
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Required Materials:
- Writing instrument (pen, marker, etc.).
- Writing surface (paper, whiteboard, etc.).
- Airman Certification Standards.
- Student jacket.
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Optional Materials:
- Pilot Operating Handbook.
- Electronic Flight Bag.
- Accessible (parked) aircraft for access to:
- Airworthiness certificate.
- Registration certificates.
- Radio station license (if available).
- Pilot Operating Handbook with Weight & Balance data.
- A&P with aircraft logbook.
- Internet connection (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.).
- Supplemental type certificate example.
- Special flight permit example.
- Airworthiness directive example.
- Service bulletin example.
- Minimum equipment list (if available).
- Kinds of equipment list (if available).
- Instructor endorsement log
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Reference Materials:
- Airworthiness Supplement.
- Registration Certificate Supplement.
- Airplane Flight Manual Supplement.
- Medical Preventive Supplement.
- Federal Aviation Regulations Part 39.
- Federal Aviation Regulations Part 43.
- Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91.
- Risk Management Handbook.
- Airplane Flying Handbook.
- Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.
- Airman Certification Standards:
- Hard copies of the ACS and Oral Exam Guides are available on Amazon.
- Digital copies of the ACS are available on the FAA's website.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Instructor Actions
- Before the lesson, review reference materials.
- Part 1, Lesson Introduction:
- Review the lesson plan, including the attention-getter and motivator.
- Review the airman certification standards.
- Part 2, Airworthiness Overview:
- Define and discuss how to determine airworthiness.
- Review the roles and responsibilities of the owner and operator, assuming they are not the same individual or entity.
- Review the documents required for an aircraft to be considered airworthy.
- Review airworthiness documents in the context of the acronym "ARROW" or "airworthiness certificate, registration certificate, radio certificate, operating handbook, and weight and balance."
- Contrast the responsibilities for maintaining airworthiness and determining airworthiness.
- Part 3, Airworthiness Documentation:
- Discuss the registration certificate:
- Review how registration applies to airworthiness requirements.
- Review registration certificate eligibility, issuance, and validity.
- Review the location and expiration of registration certificates.
- Review what to do if missing, including how to replace and what qualifies as a replacement.
- Review airworthiness certificates:
- Review special airworthiness certificates/special flight permits.
- Review supplemental type certificates.
- Review the location and expiration of airworthiness certificates.
- Review the Pilot Operating Handbook:
- Review the difference between PIM and POH and AFM.
- Review the location and expiration of POH.
- Review the location of any flight manual supplements (i.e., avionics equipment).
- Introduce the radio station license:
- Introduce operations that require a radio station license.
- Introduce the location and expiration of a radio station license.
- Introduce weight and balance:
- Introduce the location and expiration of an aircraft's weight and balance.
- Discuss how the performance and limitations lesson plan will go into more depth.
- Discuss the registration certificate:
- Part 4, Compliance:
- Review Discuss required inspections:
- ELT checks, Pitot-static checks, altimeter checks, NAVAID checks, etc.
- Discuss airworthiness directives
- Discuss service bulletins and special airworthiness information bulletins.
- Review Special Flight Permit.
- Airplane Logbook Documentation.
- Review required equipment for both day & night VFR flight:
- Review inoperative equipment considerations
- Review minimum equipment lists and kinds of equipment lists
- Discuss how the operation of aircraft systems lesson plan will go in more depth
- Review Discuss required inspections:
- Part 5, Preventive Maintenance:
- Review preventive maintenance
- Define preventive maintenance.
- Review preventive maintenance items.
- Review who can perform preventive maintenance.
- Review preventive maintenance procedures in the context of the acronym "MC-PLT," or "manuals, craftsmanship, parts, logged, and tools."
- Review logging preventive maintenance.
- Discuss considerations for flights following preventive maintenance.
- Review preventive maintenance
- Part 6, Airworthiness Guided Scenario:
- Lead a guided scenario.
- Part 7, Lesson Conclusion:
- Present the remotivation, conclude, and provide guidance for follow-on lessons.
- Review student actions required ahead of the next lesson.
- Update instructor endorsement records and the student's jacket, as required.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Airworthiness Guided Scenario(s)
- Discuss scenarios and solutions to inoperative equipment discovered before flight.
- Discuss case studies
- While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes there is a flat tire
- Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
- While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes there is no oil
- Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
- While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the EGT guage is inoperative
- Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
- If it is not repaired, what steps must be taken before flight?
- While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the vertical speed indicator is inoperative
- Who's responsibility is it to repair? Who can repair it?
- If it is not repaired, what steps must be taken before flight?
- While conducting a preflight, the pilot realizes the airworthiness certificate is missing, but they saw it the other day and have a picture from a previous lesson
- Who's responsibility is it to replace?
- Can the pilot legally fly?
- In conjunction with a preflight:
- Locate and review the documents required: airworthiness and registration certificate, radio certificate (if applicable), operators manual, and weight and balance for accuracy and expiration
- Discuss the types of airworthiness certificates
- Review an aircraft maintenance logbook with an A&P and discuss:
- What the required inspections are and how they can be found/are logged in the aircraft logbook
- What Airworthiness Directives exist, how to find them, and how they've been complied with and logged
- What Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins exist, how to find them, and how they've been complied with and logged
- Locate and review the documents required: airworthiness and registration certificate, radio certificate (if applicable), operators manual, and weight and balance for accuracy and expiration
- Still with an A&P, while conducting a preflight discuss provide examples of what maintenance requirements may be discovered and who must perform them
- Discuss inoperative equipment found during preflight:
- Do the items appear on a minimum equipment list? (if applicable)
- If not applicable, use an example
- Do the items appear on a kinds of equipment list? (if applicable)
- If not applicable, use an example
- What are the items required for VFR operations?
- In any case, how must these items be placarded when found?
- Do the items appear on a minimum equipment list? (if applicable)
- Discuss if a discrepancy was noted on the ground, but could not be fixed, how a special airworthiness certificate could be obtained?
- Provide a scenario where the pilot has determined the aircraft is airworthy, but various items start to fail
- At what point must the aircraft be legally terminated? (VFR required equipment/unairworthy)
- What are other considerations to an aircraft that has multiple pieces of equipment fail together or on the same flight?
- Related scenarios:
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Student Actions
- Complete the assigned readings (see content above).
- Ask pertinent questions
- Perform self-assessment, including fitness for flight and personal minimums, as appropriate
- Make a go/no-go decision, as appropriate
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Airman Certification Standards
- Objective: To determine whether the applicant exhibits satisfactory knowledge, risk management, and skills associated with airworthiness requirements, including airplane certificates.
- References: 14 CFR parts 39, 43, 91; FAA-H-8083-2 (Risk Management Handbook), FAA-H-8083-3 (Airplane Flying Handbook), FAA-H-8083-25 (Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge).
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Knowledge:
The applicant demonstrates an understanding of:-
CA.I.B.K1:
General airworthiness requirements and compliance for airplanes, including:-
CA.I.B.K1a:
Location and expiration dates of required aircraft certificates [airworthiness, registration, radio, operating handbook, and weight & balance]. -
CA.I.B.K1b:
Required inspections and airplane logbook documentation. -
CA.I.B.K1c:
Airworthiness Directives and Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins. -
CA.I.B.K1d:
Purpose and procedure for obtaining a special flight permit.
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CA.I.B.K2:
Pilot-performed preventive maintenance. -
CA.I.B.K3:
Equipment requirements for day and night VFR flight, including:-
CA.I.B.K3a:
Flying with Inoperative equipment. -
CA.I.B.K3b:
Using an approved Minimum Equipment List (MEL). -
CA.I.B.K3c:
Kinds of Operation Equipment List (KOEL). -
CA.I.B.K3d:
Required discrepancy records or placards.
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CA.I.B.K4:
Special airworthiness certificate aircraft operating limitations, if applicable.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Risk Management:
The applicant is able to identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with:-
CA.I.B.R1:
Inoperative equipment discovered prior to flight.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Skills:
The applicant exhibits the skills to:-
CA.I.B.S1:
Locate and describe airplane airworthiness and registration information. -
CA.I.B.S2:
Determine the airplane is airworthy in the scenario given by the evaluator. -
CA.I.B.S3:
Apply appropriate procedures for operating with inoperative equipment in the scenario given by the evaluator.
Commercial Pilot (Airplane) Airworthiness Requirements Lesson Plan Conclusion
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Re-Motivation:
- Airworthiness is a nuanced topic:
- Manufacturers are responsible for airworthiness from the factory.
- The A&P makes an airworthiness determination once a year during the annual inspection.
- The owner is responsible for ensuring that the airworthiness certificate is valid.
- The PIC is making an airworthiness determination continuously, every flight, and if an unairworthy condition develops in flight, the PIC is to end the flight
- Regardless, no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition
- Your local FAA Flight Standards District Office can provide direct guidance and information in order to obtain an airworthiness certificate
- It is best to contact your local FAA office for direct guidance immediately after you register your aircraft
- On the actual airworthiness certificate itself, you will find:
- "Unless sooner surrendered, suspended, revoked, or a termination date is otherwise established by the Administrator, this airworthiness certificate is effective as long as the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations are performed in accordance with parts 21, 43, and 91 of the federal aviation regulations, as appropriate, and the aircraft is registered in the United States"
- "Unless sooner surrendered, suspended, revoked, or a termination date is otherwise established by the Administrator."
- Various reasons including aircraft condition or legislation may null and void an airworthiness certificate
- "This airworthiness certificate is effective as long as the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations are performed in accordance with parts 21, 43, and 91 of the federal aviation regulations, as appropriate, and the aircraft is registered in the United States"
- Airworthiness certificates never expire
- "Unless sooner surrendered, suspended, revoked, or a termination date is otherwise established by the Administrator."
- "Unless sooner surrendered, suspended, revoked, or a termination date is otherwise established by the Administrator, this airworthiness certificate is effective as long as the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations are performed in accordance with parts 21, 43, and 91 of the federal aviation regulations, as appropriate, and the aircraft is registered in the United States"
- Remember that airworthiness requirements apply to all aircraft, owned or rented, as do the responsibilities to ensure compliance.
- Ramp checks are not the time to start taking airworthiness seriously.
- It is true that the Pitot-Static system does not require an inspection if operating VFR; however, if operating in airspace that requires a transponder, then the system will be looked at, albeit to a lesser extent than the required IFR check.
- To learn more about inspections, see also AOPA's guide to aircraft inspections
- Whether or not your airplane has an MEL, FAR 91.213 still applies to all inoperative equipment, and it is the pilot's responsibility to find out if the airplane has an MEL.
- MEL deferral of maintenance is not to be taken lightly, and due consideration should be given to the effect an inoperative component may have on the operation of an aircraft, particularly if other items are inoperative
- Further information regarding MELs and operations with inoperative equipment can be found in AC 91-67, Minimum Equipment Requirements for General Aviation Operations Under FAR Part 91
- Hours for inspections are based on time in service, which is an ill-defined number.
- When basing inspections on hours, pilots may run off the slower hours, to save money, or the higher hours, to be conservative.
- Master minimum equipment lists and associated documentation can be found on the FAA's website
- Read more about aircraft lighting for additional context on requirements
- Do not make it a habit to fly with a faulty component unless there is a deliberate plan to correct it.
- Further, if it's tied to airworthiness, and especially if ATC knows about it, don't push your luck!
- Those looking to apply for a radio license to fly internationally may visit the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Licensing System to learn more and apply
- Still looking for something? Continue searching:
- Airworthiness is a nuanced topic:
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Closure:
- Advise students that this lesson will be used as a starting point for the next lesson
- Assign study materials for the next lesson