Aircraft Certificates and Flight Permits

A type certificate approves a design; it says nothing about whether a particular aircraft, with its own history of repairs, modifications and wear, is fit to fly today. That is the job of the certificates issued to each individual aircraft. The certificate of registration gives it a nationality, the certificate of airworthiness says it conforms to its approved design and is safe to operate, and in Europe the airworthiness review certificate and the noise certificate complete the set. An aircraft that cannot meet the standard requirements, such as a prototype, a damaged aircraft that needs to reach a repair base or a homebuilt, flies instead under a permit to fly or one of the FAA's special airworthiness certificates.

The rules come from ICAO Annex 8 (Airworthiness of Aircraft) and Annex 16 (Environmental Protection), turned into European law by the EU's Part 21 and continuing airworthiness regulations and into US law by 14 CFR Parts 21 and 91. They are examined in the air law papers of every licence, and a pilot meets them before every flight, because the pilot-in-command must know that the papers on board are valid.

What Airworthiness Means

In ICAO's definition an aircraft is airworthy when it conforms to its approved design and is in a condition for safe operation. The definition has two halves. Conformity is a matter of design: the aircraft must match its type certificate and type certificate data sheet, plus any approved modifications (see type certification). Condition is a matter of maintenance: wear, damage, corrosion and defects must be within limits (see continuing airworthiness and maintenance).

Annex 8 treats airworthiness from the engineering side and Annex 6 from the operational side; the two are complementary. A certificate proves that the aircraft was airworthy when it was issued or last reviewed, not that it is airworthy on the day. That judgement belongs to the pilot: under 14 CFR 91.7 the pilot-in-command decides whether the aircraft is in condition for safe flight and must discontinue the flight when unairworthy mechanical, electrical or structural conditions occur. European operating rules likewise make the commander responsible for being satisfied that the aircraft is airworthy before flight.

Certificate of Registration

The certificate of registration, which the FAA calls the registration certificate, is issued by the State of Registry when the aircraft is entered on its register. It shows the nationality and registration marks, the manufacturer and model, the serial number and the owner's name and address, and certifies the entry on the register. Under the Chicago Convention an aircraft has the nationality of the State where it is registered and cannot be validly registered in more than one State. The certificate is carried at all times, and in EU commercial air transport it must be the original. It does not contain the certificate of airworthiness number: that is a separate document. Marks and documents are covered in aircraft registration and documents.

Certificate of Airworthiness

The certificate of airworthiness (C of A) is issued by the State of Registry, on satisfactory evidence that the aircraft complies with the appropriate airworthiness requirements, and follows a standard ICAO form. When a State first registers an aircraft and issues or validates its C of A, it informs the State of Design, so that continuing airworthiness information reaches the right authority. Under Article 33 of the Chicago Convention other States must recognise a C of A issued to requirements at or above the ICAO minimum standards.

A C of A does not last by itself. Annex 8 keeps it valid only while continuing airworthiness is confirmed by periodic inspection, at intervals the State sets. If the aircraft is damaged, the State of Registry judges whether it is still airworthy and, after a repair, determines that the necessary repairs have been properly carried out.

• EASA: the C of A is issued for an unlimited duration, but it is valid only with a valid airworthiness review certificate. Aircraft in commercial air transport must hold a C of A issued in accordance with Annex 8, and it is carried as an original.
• FAA: a standard airworthiness certificate is issued in the category of the type certificate, such as normal, utility, acrobatic or transport, and remains in effect as long as the aircraft is maintained under Parts 43 and 91 and stays on the US register. Under 91.203 it must be displayed at the cabin or flight deck entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew.

Airworthiness Review Certificate

Europe separates the permanent C of A from a yearly proof that the aircraft is still in condition. The airworthiness review certificate (ARC) is issued after an airworthiness review, a check of the aircraft and of its records: the approved maintenance programme and its completion, airworthiness directive compliance, component lives, modifications and repairs. The ARC is renewed or extended at 12-month intervals, and without a valid ARC the C of A is not valid.

The review is carried out under the continuing airworthiness regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, by a suitably approved organisation or person, or by the competent authority. The FAA has no ARC: for a light aeroplane the annual inspection of 14 CFR 91.409 plays a comparable role.

Noise Certificate

ICAO Annex 16 sets the noise standards an aircraft type must meet. In the EU each aircraft also holds a noise certificate, issued by the State of Registry, which records that it complies with the applicable noise requirements. It is on the list of documents carried under both the non-commercial rules (NCO.GEN.135) and the commercial rules (CAT.GEN.MPA.180), although, unlike the certificates of registration and airworthiness, it need not be the original in commercial air transport. The FAA's list of documents to carry, remembered as ARROW, includes no noise certificate.

Permits to Fly and Ferry Permits

Not every aircraft that needs to fly can hold a valid C of A. A prototype has no type certificate yet; an aircraft with an expired inspection or ARC, or with damage, no longer meets the conditions of its C of A; some aircraft will never meet a certification code at all.

In the EU such an aircraft may fly under a permit to fly issued under Part 21, when it does not meet or has not been shown to meet the airworthiness requirements but is capable of safe flight under defined conditions. The permit comes with approved flight conditions: the configuration, limitations, crew and procedures under which the flight is safe. It is issued by the competent authority or, within the privileges of its approval, by an approved design organisation, as the French AIP's list of differences from Annex 8 notes. Its purposes range from development and test flying to delivery, and to flying an aircraft to a place where maintenance or an airworthiness review can be done. Exam texts on Annex 8 make the point with the prototype: before any C of A exists, it makes its test flights under a permit to fly issued by the State of Manufacture, and the type certificate follows from the State of Design once testing is complete.

The FAA's equivalent for a single flight or series of flights is the special flight permit, usually called a ferry permit, of 14 CFR 21.197. It is issued for an aircraft that may not currently meet the applicable airworthiness requirements but is capable of safe flight, for purposes such as:

• flying to a base where repairs, alterations, maintenance or an inspection will be done;
• delivering or exporting the aircraft;
• production flight testing of new aircraft;
• evacuating the aircraft from an area of impending danger.

The Flight Standards District Office, or a designee, sets the route, crew and operating limitations, and the permit is effective for the period it states. Passengers are not carried. The permit is the only way to move an aircraft whose annual inspection has expired, because the 12 calendar months of 91.409 carry no grace period, and it is also the route for an aircraft with inoperative equipment that fails the test of 91.213 (see required instruments and equipment).

Experimental Certificates

The special flight permit is one of the FAA's special airworthiness certificates, which also include the primary, restricted, limited, light-sport and provisional certificates and the experimental certificate. An experimental certificate is issued for a stated purpose, such as research and development, showing compliance with the regulations, crew training, exhibition, air racing, market surveys or operating an amateur-built aircraft, one whose major portion was built by people for their own education or recreation. The aircraft must display the word EXPERIMENTAL near the cabin entrance.

Under 14 CFR 91.319 an experimental aircraft:

• may not be operated for any purpose other than the one for which its certificate was issued;
• may not carry persons or property for compensation or hire;
• flies its Phase I flight test within an area assigned by the FAA, and without passengers, until it has been shown to be controllable throughout its normal range of speeds and manoeuvres and to have no hazardous characteristics;
• may then carry passengers, each of whom must be told of the aircraft's experimental nature;
• may fly over densely populated areas or in congested airways only if its operating limitations allow it, and at night or under IFR only if suitably equipped and permitted.

Some flight training for compensation in experimental aircraft is permitted under 91.326, in force since December 2024, in some cases with a Letter of Deviation Authority (see FAA regulations and enforcement). In Europe most amateur-built aircraft fall outside the EASA rules altogether and fly on national permits issued by their State of Registry.

Operating Limitations and Placards

Every certificate comes with limitations, and they are as binding as the certificate. Under 14 CFR 91.9 no one may operate a civil aircraft without complying with the operating limitations in its approved flight manual, markings and placards, and the flight manual or pilot's operating handbook must be on board. The limitations section covers airspeed limits and their instrument markings, engine limits, mass and centre of gravity, load factors and the kinds of operation approved, such as day or night VFR, IFR or flight in icing. For an experimental aircraft, the operating limitations issued with the certificate take their place and form part of its limitations.

A limitation placard puts a limitation where the pilot will see it. Examples are a baggage compartment placard such as "Maximum 20 kg", which limits the load the floor and restraints are certificated to carry, independently of the total mass and centre of gravity; a placard prohibiting intentional spins in a normal category aeroplane; and the INOPERATIVE placard fixed to deactivated equipment under 91.213.

Library articles are written for study and exam preparation. They do not replace your aircraft's approved documentation, your operator's procedures or the regulations themselves.