(Sorry folks but this one came out a little long winded but it contains a lot of good information about annual inspections… and also dispels a few old wives tales.)
True, FAR 43, App D, does not specifically state that compliance with ADs must be checked during the annual inspection but this is how it works...
The annual inspection is not necessarily an inspection to make sure something isn't about to fall off your airplane (although that is what the annual is usually seen as.) The real purpose of an annual inspection is to make sure the aircraft still conforms to the Type Certificate under which the aircraft was originally approved for flight by the FAA. And if the aircraft conforms to the TC, its Airworthiness Certificate is valid. Of course, if the aircraft still conforms to the TC, then it is considered to be as safe as the day it was approved by the Feds. Therefore, the TYPE CERTIFICATE is the ruling authority of an annual, not FAR 43, App D. (FAR 43, App D is only a minimum guideline of what should be looked at during an inspection. Conformance with the TC is still the prime directive.)
Okay, I see lots of raised eyebrows out there but please bear with me…
In order to conform to the TC, this means that every part of the aircraft must be in an as-originally-built condition, i.e. any repairs to a part must return that part to its original specifications/drawings, no worse but no better either. (If the repaired part is "better" than the original part, then that repair is also an alteration because “better” doesn’t conform to the original specifications for the repaired part.) It also means that the aircraft contains no modifications not already allowed by the TC. (The TC allows some pre-approved mods such as the addition or deletion of wheel pants.)
However, the TC also lists the minimum required items in order for the TC to be valid. Can you placard your nav lights as being inoperative and still fly during the day? Not if your aircraft was originally certified under the TC for both day and night VFR/IFR (in which operable nav lights are not optional.) In order for you to LEGALLY fly during the day with inoperative nav lights, your IA must submit a 337 to the feds requesting a field approval for a modification to your TC to remove, even if just temporarily, the nighttime operating allowance of the TC. The alternative is for your A&P to submit for a ferry permit to allow you to fly somewhere to get your nav lights fixed. It’s because the TC says that your nav lights are REQUIRED items and not optional like wheel pants or a malfunctioning Hobbs meter. (Don’t kill the messenger folks. I’m just telling you what the regs and feds say.)
Conforming to the TC also means that any amendments to the original TC (and Airworthiness Directives ARE amendments to the TC) must also be complied with. Therefore, when your IA checks to make sure your airplane conforms to the TC, he/she must ALSO make sure it conforms to any amendments. This is why doing an AD search is part of your annual inspection, even though FAR 43, App D says nothing about it.
Your IA also has to make sure that any previous modifications to your airplane are approved (via STC or Field Approval) and that any previous repairs are in compliance with approved methods (manufacturer's repair manual or FAR 43.13-1b.) Any repairs not conforming to applicable standards, or any unapproved modifications, must either be removed or made right by the IA before he/she can return your Cessna to service because when that IA signs off your annual, he is also certifying the integrity and legality of all the maintenance and modifications made by others before him! (Remember – Your IA ends your annual with the statement that your little Cessna is in an airworthy condition. There is not an exclusionary statement that says “except for any work performed before me by others.” He knows that his signature in your aircraft’s log is hanging his butt out for any lawyer to chew on. This is why most IAs eventually develop nervous facial twitches!) And this is why your IA will look through your aircraft’s logs as part of an annual, even though FAR 43, App D doesn’t say to do so, because he/she is trying to get a heads up on those previously repaired parts of your Cessna that will require extra scrutiny during the inspection.
So, in a nutshell, the FARs require that your aircraft has a valid Airworthiness Certificate and for that AC to remain valid, the FARs require that the aircraft be maintained and operated in accordance with the original Type Certificate and any amendments. And FAR 43, App D doesn’t make this little connection. Most IAs will tell you that it isn’t any special inspection skills that we learn in IA school; it’s how to interpret the confusing FARs!!!
And by the way, the aircraft’s flight manual/pilot’s operating handbook is spelled out in the TCs of most of our Cessnas as being a required item for flight. This means that flying without it is a failure to meet the requirements of the TC. And if the TC isn’t followed, then the Airworthiness Certificate displayed in that little plastic case by your left knee is invalid. And then the man in the suit with the clipboard standing by the gas pump when you taxi up can remove your favorite body parts with a few strokes of his pen!
To answer Chris’s original question, he can get his Airworthiness Certificate reinstated but only after he proves to the FAA (via a DAR inspection) that his airplane complies with the original TC. And that may not be easy, or cheap! He may need to contact an aviation attorney in order to go after the last owner for reimbursement of his DAR expenses. (Again, assuming that the last owner sold the plane to Chris with the implication that it was airworthy and legal to fly.)
Harvey
Last edited by Harvey_Hartman; 09/17/07 04:31 AM.
