What records an aircraft owner must keep

Who is responsible

The owner or operator of an aircraft is primarily responsible for maintaining it in an airworthy condition, including compliance with airworthiness directives (14 CFR 91.403(a)).

The owner or operator must also have the aircraft inspected as the regulations require and make sure that maintenance personnel make the appropriate entries in the maintenance records showing the aircraft has been approved for return to service (14 CFR 91.405). The mechanic writes and signs the entry; keeping the record is the owner's job.

Records of work done: keep until superseded, or one year

Under 14 CFR 91.417(a)(1), the owner keeps records of the maintenance, preventive maintenance and alteration, and records of the 100-hour, annual, progressive and other required or approved inspections, for each aircraft (including the airframe) and each engine, propeller, rotor and appliance.

Each record must include a description of the work performed (or a reference to data acceptable to the FAA), the date the work was completed, and the signature and certificate number of the person approving the aircraft for return to service.

These records are retained until the work is repeated or superseded by other work, or for one year after the work is performed (91.417(b)(1)).

Status records: keep for the life of the aircraft

Under 14 CFR 91.417(a)(2), the owner keeps records containing:

• The total time in service of the airframe, each engine, each propeller and each rotor.
• The current status of life-limited parts of each airframe, engine, propeller, rotor and appliance.
• The time since the last overhaul of all items installed on the aircraft that are required to be overhauled on a specified time basis.
• The current inspection status of the aircraft, including the time since the last inspection required by the inspection program under which the aircraft and its appliances are maintained.
• The current status of applicable airworthiness directives, including for each the method of compliance, the AD number and revision date, and, for a recurring AD, the time and date when the next action is required.
• Copies of the forms prescribed by 14 CFR 43.9(d) (FAA Form 337) for each major alteration to the airframe and the currently installed engines, rotors, propellers and appliances.

These records are retained and transferred with the aircraft at the time it is sold (91.417(b)(2)).

Lists of defects

When an inspection finds the aircraft unairworthy, the person performing it gives the owner a signed and dated list of the discrepancies (14 CFR 43.11(b)). The owner keeps that list until the defects are repaired and the aircraft is approved for return to service (91.417(b)(3)).

What a maintenance entry contains

The content of the entry is the mechanic's responsibility. A maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding or alteration entry contains a description of the work, the date of completion, the name of the person who performed it if other than the signer, and the signature, certificate number and kind of certificate of the person approving the work (14 CFR 43.9(a)).

An inspection entry contains the type of inspection and a brief description of its extent, the date and the aircraft total time in service, the signature, certificate number and kind of certificate of the person approving or disapproving the aircraft for return to service, and a statement of the result in the wording the section gives (14 CFR 43.11(a)).

The holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61, other than a sport pilot certificate, may perform the preventive maintenance listed in appendix A of part 43 on an aircraft they own or operate, when it is not used under part 121, 129 or 135, and must make the entry (14 CFR 43.3(g), 43.9).

Dated items that leave a record

Several recurring items are shown by an entry in the maintenance records: the annual inspection (14 CFR 91.409(a)), the ELT inspection and the battery expiration date (91.207(c) and (d)), the altimeter and static system test (91.411), the transponder test (91.413). The VOR check for IFR is recorded by the pilot in the aircraft log or another record, with the date, place, bearing error and a signature (91.171(d)).

Documents carried in the aircraft

Separate from the maintenance records, an aircraft must carry an appropriate and current airworthiness certificate, displayed so it is legible to passengers or crew, and an effective US registration certificate (14 CFR 91.203(a)). It must be operated within the operating limitations in its approved flight manual, markings and placards, and the flight manual must be available in the aircraft when one is required (14 CFR 91.9). Current weight and balance information is part of that operating information.

The maintenance logbooks themselves do not have to be carried in the aircraft.

When the aircraft is sold

The seller transfers the status records of 91.417(a)(2) to the buyer at the time of sale, in plain language or in coded form, and the work records of 91.417(a)(1) that are not included in the status records; the buyer may let the seller keep physical custody of the work records but remains responsible for making them available (14 CFR 91.419).

The owner must make all the records required by 91.417 available for inspection by the FAA or the National Transportation Safety Board (91.417(c)).

Paper or electronic

The regulations describe what a record must contain, not the medium. The FAA's guidance on maintenance records is Advisory Circular 43-9, and its guidance on electronic signatures, recordkeeping and manuals is Advisory Circular 120-78. Whether a particular electronic record is acceptable to your mechanic, your insurer or a buyer is a practical question to settle with them.

A records tool such as Voydar Hangar keeps a copy and reminds you of dates. It does not replace the signed entry.