C.F.R. » Title 14 » CHAPTER I—FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › SUBCHAPTER C—AIRCRAFT › PART 43—MAINTENANCE, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE, REBUILDING, AND ALTERATION

14 C.F.R. § 43.3

Persons authorized to perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alterations

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(a) Except as provided in this section and § 43.17, no person may maintain, rebuild, alter, or perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part to which this part applies. Those items, the performance of which is a major alteration, a major repair, or preventive maintenance, are listed in appendix A.

(b) The holder of a mechanic certificate may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations as provided in Part 65 of this chapter.

(c) The holder of a repairman certificate may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations as provided in part 65 of this chapter.

(d) A person working under the supervision of a holder of a mechanic or repairman certificate may perform the maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations that his supervisor is authorized to perform, if the supervisor personally observes the work being done to the extent necessary to ensure that it is being done properly and if the supervisor is readily available, in person, for consultation. However, this paragraph does not authorize the performance of any inspection required by Part 91 or Part 125 of this chapter or any inspection performed after a major repair or alteration.

(e) The holder of a repair station certificate may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations as provided in Part 145 of this chapter.

(f) The holder of an air carrier operating certificate or an operating certificate issued under Part 121 or 135, may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations as provided in Part 121 or 135.

(g) Except for holders of a sport pilot certificate, the holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61 may perform preventive maintenance on any aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under part 121, 129, or 135 of this chapter. The holder of a sport pilot certificate may perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft owned or operated by that pilot and issued a special airworthiness certificate in the light-sport category.

(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (g) of this section, the Administrator may approve a certificate holder under Part 135 of this chapter, operating rotorcraft in a remote area, to allow a pilot to perform specific preventive maintenance items provided—

(1) The items of preventive maintenance are a result of a known or suspected mechanical difficulty or malfunction that occurred en route to or in a remote area;

(2) The pilot has satisfactorily completed an approved training program and is authorized in writing by the certificate holder for each item of preventive maintenance that the pilot is authorized to perform;

(3) There is no certificated mechanic available to perform preventive maintenance;

(4) The certificate holder has procedures to evaluate the accomplishment of a preventive maintenance item that requires a decision concerning the airworthiness of the rotorcraft; and

(5) The items of preventive maintenance authorized by this section are those listed in paragraph (c) of appendix A of this part.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (g) of this section, in accordance with an approval issued to the holder of a certificate issued under part 135 of this chapter, a pilot of an aircraft type-certificated for 9 or fewer passenger seats, excluding any pilot seat, may perform the removal and reinstallation of approved aircraft cabin seats, approved cabin-mounted stretchers, and when no tools are required, approved cabin-mounted medical oxygen bottles, provided—

(1) The pilot has satisfactorily completed an approved training program and is authorized in writing by the certificate holder to perform each task; and

(2) The certificate holder has written procedures available to the pilot to evaluate the accomplishment of the task.

(j) A manufacturer may—

(1) Rebuild or alter any aircraft, aircraft engine, propeller, or appliance manufactured by him under a type or production certificate;

(2) Rebuild or alter any appliance or part of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances manufactured by him under a Technical Standard Order Authorization, an FAA-Parts Manufacturer Approval, or Product and Process Specification issued by the Administrator; and

(3) Perform any inspection required by part 91 or part 125 of this chapter on aircraft it manufactured under a type certificate, or currently manufactures under a production certificate.

(k) Updates of databases in installed avionics meeting the conditions of this paragraph are not considered maintenance and may be performed by pilots provided:

(1) The database upload is:

(i) Initiated from the flight deck;

(ii) Performed without disassembling the avionics unit; and

(iii) Performed without the use of tools and/or special equipment.

(2) The pilot must comply with the certificate holder's procedures or the manufacturer's instructions.

(3) The holder of operating certificates must make available written procedures consistent with manufacturer's instructions to the pilot that describe how to:

(i) Perform the database update; and

(ii) Determine the status of the data upload.

[Doc. No. 1993, 29 FR 5451, Apr. 23, 1964, as amended by Amdt. 43-4, 31 FR 5249, Apr. 1, 1966; Amdt. 43-23, 47 FR 41084, Sept. 16, 1982; Amdt. 43-25, 51 FR 40702, Nov. 7, 1986; Amdt. 43-36, 61 FR 19501, May 1, 1996; Amdt. 43-37, 66 FR 21066, Apr. 27, 2001; Amdt. 43-39, 69 FR 44863, July 27, 2004; Amdt. 43-43, 74 FR 53394, Oct. 16, 2009; Amdt. 43-45, 77 FR 71096, Nov. 29, 2012]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1981–2023 · leading case: Indem. Ins. Co. of North Am. v. Am. Aviation, Inc., 344 F.3d 1136 (11th Cir. 2003).
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Indem. Ins. Co. of North Am. v. Am. Aviation, Inc., 344 F.3d 1136 (11th Cir. 2003). · cites it 2× “See 14 C.F.R. §§ 43.3 , 43.7, 43.13. Before returning the aircraft to service, the certified mechanic must also make an entry into the aircraft’s logbook regarding the inspection and maintenance performed.”
Aeronautical Repair Station Ass'n v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 494 F.3d 161 (D.C. Cir. 2007). “The petitioners maintain that because only certificated persons can perform maintenance under 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 , employees of noncertificated subcontractors cannot perform "maintenance" but only "maintenance functions.”
Dennis Lauterbach, Sr. v. Michael Huerta, 817 F.3d 347 (D.C. Cir. 2016). “§§ 40102 (8), 44702-44705, 44711(a)(2)(A); 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 . To promote aviation safety, the FAA requires that certified airmen follow specific maintenance procedures and keep detailed records of any inspection, repair, or maintenance of aircraft and parts.”
Sikkelee ex rel. Est. Sikkelee v. Precision Airmotive Corp., 45 F. Supp. 3d 431 (M.D. Penn. 2014). “” 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (a) & (e) (2004). Kelly held such a certificate when it overhauled the replacement carburetor.”
Bill Hames Shows, Inc. v. J. J. Taylor Syndicate 173, & Third Party Plaintiffs- Buster L. Brown, Third Party, 642 F.2d 179 (3rd Cir. 1981). “3(a), 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (a) (1980) provides: Except as provided in this section, no person may maintain, rebuild, alter, or perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine propeller, or appliance to which this Part applies.”
Jason D Giordano v. Williams Int'l Co LLC (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 5× “Plaintiff claimed that defendant requested that he violate 14 CFR 43.3(d) (2012) and 14 CFR 43.12 (1982) but he refused and was fired.”
Dodson Int'l Parts, Inc. v. Williams Int'l Co. LLC (D. Kan. 2020). · cites it 3× “Dodson argues that 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 precludes Williams’s corporate employees—as opposed to Repair Station engineers—from repairing engines in the aftermarket, yet Williams based its ultimate decision not to repair the engines at issue on the opinions of corporate executives who…”
Joan E. Quinn v. Avco Corp. (3rd Cir. 2023). “” 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (j)(2). Indeed, Appellants do not dispute that Continental holds Parts Manufacturing Authority to the Magneto, the FAA regulations state that rebuilding a part is an activity that is within the exclusive province of an aviation manufacturer, and rebuilding…”
Valley Fresh Produce, Inc. v. W. Skyways, Inc. (D. Colo. 2019). “, 14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (b) (“The holder of a mechanic certificate may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations as provided in Part 65 of this chapter.”
Quinn v. Cont'l Motors, Inc. (D. Del. 2021). “14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (); (D.I. 268 at 11-12).”
Quinn v. Cont'l Motors, Inc. (D. Del. 2020). “14 C.F.R. § 43.3 (). Thus, I conclude Continental is a “manufacturer.”
Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 975 F.2d 736 (10th Cir. 1992). · cites it 2× “By Action Notice dated July 7, 1989, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) concluded that the removal and replacement of oxygen cylinders used in medical oxygen systems installed on an aircraft constituted “maintenance of an appliance” *737 as contemplated by 14 C.F.R. §…”
— 14 C.F.R. § 43.3(d) — 1 case
Jason D Giordano v. Williams Int'l Co LLC (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). “Plaintiff claimed that defendant requested that he violate 14 CFR 43.3(d) (2012) and 14 CFR 43.12 (1982) but he refused and was fired.”
— 14 C.F.R. § 43.3(e) — 1 case
Jason D Giordano v. Williams Int'l Co LLC (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). “Plaintiff claimed that defendant requested that he violate 14 CFR 43.3(d) (2012) and 14 CFR 43.12 (1982) but he refused and was fired.”
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