Maintain Your Way To Greater Safety

In “Maintaining Your Way to Greater Safety” in the March/April issue of FAA Safety Briefing, the topic of preventive maintenance is explored, revealing what tasks a pilot can and cannot do. Pilots who help maintain their aircraft can gain a better working knowledge of their aircraft’s systems and components. Armed with this additional technical know-how, pilots can also improve communication with their mechanics.

To see a list of the items a pilot can perform without supervision, see 14 CFR part 43, Appendix A. However, before you start turning a wrench, pilots should keep in mind that a procedure like changing an oil filter may be simple on some aircraft, but complex on others. The regulations require that preventive maintenance be a simple or minor preservation operation not involving complex assembly operations.

To learn more about owner-performed preventive maintenance, check out the article on page 23 of the March/April issue of FAA Safety Briefing. www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2010/media/MarApr2010.pdf