Inoperative Equipment

Source: www.pilotworkshop.com
Featuring Bob Martens

Bob:

"Never operate a plane with a known malfunction. The follow-up to that is that if a malfunction occurs in flight, to land as soon as practical and get it fixed. Why start out with problems? Flying can be challenging enough without adding problems to the mix. The broken component or inoperative equipment might just be an item in the chain of events that leads us to an accident site.

I am willing to bet that many pilots are unfamiliar with FAR 91-213, which talks about inoperative instruments and equipment. Basically, it says that everything on our airplane is supposed to work or we don't fly. Unless you operate with an approved minimum equipment list, you must strictly comply with the procedures and FAR 91-213 to legally operate an airplane with inoperative equipment.

Far too many pilots fail to write up faulty or broken components or leave them until the annual inspection to get repaired. That is not good. Always start out with a healthy airplane."