Fly The Wing

If something is broken on the airplane, can we still fly? (Maybe) Is the airplane safe… and is it legal? Sometimes those are two very different questions.

WHAT WE NEED VS. WHAT’S BROKEN

Every student pilot learns “Equipment required for VFR flight”. Perhaps you memorized TOMATO FLAMES to help you recall Tachometer, Oil Pressure, Manifold Pressure, Altimeter, etc. There are certain things that need to be on the airplane --- and working properly --- to fly under Visual Flight Rules. The equipment list becomes even longer when we fly at night or under IFR rules. Conversely, everything that is on the airplane must work, whether it’s required or not.

A Nav-Com radio is not required for VFR flight. But if it doesn’t power up when you turn Avionics on, you can’t just taxi out and takeoff, even if you have a second Nav-Com on board that does work. Don’t confuse what’s required (91.205) with inoperative instruments and equipment (91.213); they are two very different rules.

There are four essential steps that must be completed before you slip the surly bonds of earth with inoperative equipment. For the sake of this discussion, I’ll focus on items “not required for VFR flight”. Let’s all agree that a non-working fuel gauge, a broken tachometer or an altimeter with a stuck knob are all deal-breakers and we can’t fly until they’re fixed or replaced.

Here are some items --- none required for VFR-Day flight --- that you may find inoperative on light airplanes:

NON-POWERED

VSI, inclinometer, vacuum pump, attitude indicator, heading indicator, manual flaps, etc.

POWERED

Landing and taxi light, strobe and nav lights, turn coordinator, GPS, Nav-Com, ADF, DME, MFD/PFD screens, LORAN (ha!), auto pilot, electric pitch trim, weather radar or storm scope, marker beacon, audio panel, engine analyzer (JPI or EI, etc.), cabin or panel lights, auxiliary fuel pump, electric flaps, avionics fan, alternator or charging system, battery, starter, pitot heat, various annunciators, stall warning indicator, cigarette lighter, electric clock, air conditioning, etc.

Wow; there are a lot of systems and equipment on these small airplanes, aren’t there? For the non-powered/non-required systems, you can simply placard the device and go fly if you decide that the airplane in this condition is not a hazard. I might fly a local VFR-Day flight without a VSI, but perhaps not without functioning manual flaps. For the powered instruments and equipment, you (or a Mechanic) must de-activate it, placard it, and then decide that it’s not a hazard to flight.

Here’s a simple flow chart you can use to help keep you legal and safe when you come across a non-working piece of equipment:

Click image to download Inop Instruments & Equipment PDF.

SCENARIO-BASED SCENARIOS

Here’s a simple example; an instrument not required for flight, that is not powered. Let’s say you’re getting ready to go out in a rental airplane that just returned to the line. As the pilot climbs out, he tells you the VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator) is not working at all; it just stays stuck on zero. Can you still fly? Of course; a VSI is not required equipment for VFR or IFR flight. Tape a note or label on it (“INOPERATIVE”), and go flying. (A VSI has no power source and merely relies on changing static pressure).

Another simple example is a landing light that does not work. Not required for VFR flight. Simply tape a paper label over the switch (“INOP”) so that you and other pilots don’t reach for it, and go

fly. Because this is a piece of equipment that has a switch, you as the pilot are able to “deactivate it” per the rules; it doesn’t require a mechanic to remove power from a landing light when there is a big ol’ toggle switch right there on the panel. Because the deactivation did not require maintenance, there is no requirement that this be recorded in the aircraft records (91.213(3)(ii)).

What if the returning pilot tells you the electric pitch trim is not working (it’s either stuck or just dead). Or perhaps the Auto Pilot is not holding heading. Neither of these is required for VFR flight. However, each of these devices has a power source (electrical bus on our airplane).

Here’s where it gets a little tricky. The rule that guides us through “Inoperative instruments and equipment” is 91.213. There are four things we must do before we can fly with inoperative equipment that is not required:

1.)Remove it from the aircraft
2.)Record what you just did in Step 1 in the maintenance records.
3.)Placard it in the cockpit (label that says “AUTO PILOT REMOVED”)
4.)Pilot or maintenance person makes a decision that removal of the inoperative equipment does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft.

If you can’t get a mechanic to remove the equipment (a pilot is not allowed to remove an Auto Pilot or pitch trim); section (3)(ii) of 91.213 gives us another option. We can:

1.)Deactivate and placard the equipment (label on Auto Pilot that says “INOPERATIVE”)
2.)If deactivation involves maintenance, it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with 43.9 (maintenance records).

An airplane that has electric pitch trim and/or an Auto Pilot will have a pullable (black) circuit breaker for that device (in a Cessna

172/182, they are the same circuit breaker). It needs to be pullable, as that’s the last line of defense you have to “kill the Auto Pilot” or overcome a runaway trim condition (stuck switch or motor). You should pull the circuit breaker then put a tie-wrap around the base of the breaker so you (or the next pilot) are unable to push that circuit breaker in again. Resetting the circuit breaker, either intentionally or unintentionally, would defeat the purpose of de-activating the inoperative equipment. Then of course placard it in the cockpit (“AUTO PILOT INOP”). Tip: You should placard inop equipment in the airplane, not just for the sake of successive pilots that fly that airplane, but also so that you don’t inadvertently look at or reach for a switch for equipment that is inoperative during your flight!

ONE MORE SCENARIO

What if the Turn Coordinator isn’t working? You would only

know this if the red flag on the face of the instrument is displayed when the Master switch is on, or, while taxiing the wings don’t indicate a turn in the direction you turn the airplane (let’s assume it’s inop while you’re still on the ground). Is a Turn Coordinator required equipment for VFR day (or night) flight? No.

But here’s the problem. Most TC’s are electric (not vacuum) powered. It’s a redundancy thing. In case you lose one (or both) of your vacuum pumps, (taking out both your Attitude and Heading Indicators), you can still keep the wings level by using the DC-powered Turn Coordinator. But in most airplanes, the circuit breaker for the TC is not pullable. Yes, a white circuit breaker will ‘pop’ in the case of a short or surge in the wiring, but it is not possible for you, the pilot, to remove power from the Turn Coordinator if it hasn’t already popped the white circuit breaker. You must have a mechanic do that, presumably by climbing up behind the instrument panel. Then, they must make an entry in the aircraft maintenance records and placard the instrument in the cockpit (“INOPERATIVE”), before anyone can fly that airplane. You can’t merely placard it as INOP and go fly, as many wrongly believe. A mechanic must deactivate (or remove) it, and record that fact in the maintenance records. Them’s the rules.

Yes it seems tedious and time-consuming, but like everything, there’s a reason for the rule. And if the mechanic physically removes the device from the airplane, he must make the appropriate adjustments to the aircraft’s weight and balance information and the equipment list, fill out and submit FAA Form 337, and, approve the aircraft for return to service. Now you know why there are so many light airplanes with “INOP” plastered on ADF’s and auto pilots. You can’t defer maintenance (removal of Inop equipment) forever. Don’t believe me? Take an airplane with “INOP” equipment on a check ride and let me know how that works out for you.

WORST CASE SCENARIO

You may recall the Cessna 310 belonging to NASCAR that crashed

in 2007 near Orlando. They reset a popped circuit breaker for the weather radar that had failed the previous day. After the circuit breaker was reset, a fire started in the cockpit. In 2009 the FAA released an SAIB (Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin) related directly to this accident. In it, they recommend isolating essential and non-essential circuit breakers (and not resetting the latter at all), as well as an admonition to “Review the actions required by 14 CFR Section 91.213 dealing with inoperative instruments and equipment”.

DO THE RIGHT THING

Don’t start cutting corners as far as which rules you abide by and which you don’t. It’s a slippery slope and will eventually bite you. When you see an airplane that is in unsafe or questionably legal condition, placard the component, de-activate it (switch or pullable circuit breaker), or have a mechanic remove power from or remove the instrument or equipment entirely (then record that in maintenance records).

As an added bonus, if you avoid renting airplanes that are poorly maintained or not maintained in accordance with FAA airworthiness requirements --- such as complying with 91.213 --- this will only serve as incentive to those airplane owners to step up their attention to detail and provide airplanes that are legal for you to fly. Don’t lower your standards or get complacent in accepting un-airworthy airplanes. You’re PIC; act like it.

Also, keep in mind that virtually every airplane insurance policy contains wording to the effect: “airplane must be in airworthy condition prior to flight in order for coverage to be in force”. When you fly an airplane that is not airworthy --- even if it’s merely missing a placard or “INOP” label --- you, your passengers and the airplane are not insured. The first thing every insurance company will try to do is deny a claim because the airplane or the PIC are not legal, so keep that in mind the next time you take off with a malfunctioning Turn Coordinator that hasn’t been de-activated!

IT’S NOT OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER

This is something often overlooked by pilots. Rule 43.5(a) states that an airplane that has undergone maintenance may not return to service until the maintenance record entry required has been made.

Classic examples are an oil change, an annual inspection, transponder check, etc. Example: You know from prudently reviewing the aircraft logbooks that the transponder check that allows us to fly within the San Diego Mode C veil expired the end of February. The mechanic tells you on March 3rd that it was just done. If you don’t find an entry in the aircraft maintenance records (logbooks) stating that, then as far as the FAA is concerned, that airplane can’t return to service! Most of the time, transponder (and static/altimeter checks) are accomplished by outside providers (Instrument Overhaul or Neal Aviation at Gillespie), so sometimes the paperwork “lags” a few days after the inspection occurs. Doesn’t matter; as PIC, you’re required to make sure the airplane is in compliance and airworthy. Don’t make that the first link in the accident chain.

If you, as the pilot, conducted the preventative maintenance to de-activate or remove any inoperative equipment, here is an example from Advisory Circular 91-67 on what your endorsement for the aircraft records should look like:

(DATE) ___ Total time hours. Landing light bulb removed in accordance with (manufacturer) maintenance manual, Chapter __ Page __. Landing light switch placarded inoperative.

_________________ __________________

Pilot’s Signature Certificate Number

Be sure your placard lettering is at least 1/8” high. AC 91-67 suggests it can be as informal as being written on a piece of masking tape. Download PDF here: AC 91-67.pdf.

ONE EXCEPTION

There is an exception to everything I’ve written here. 91.213(e) allows us to fly with inoperable instruments or equipment under a special flight permit. See 21.197 and 21.199 for more.

2/9/15