Minor Change to the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness Rule

Happy Tuesday!  This week we are offering five new features of the FAA’s recent rule changes that alter the small airplane rules, but have some minor effects on all other aircraft as well.

The FAA has made very minor changes to 14 C.F.R. § 21.50(b).  This is a very important rule to many of our readers because it establishes the design approval holder’s obligation to provide and make available Instructions for Continued Airworthiness.

Here are the changes (marked with strike-through for deletions and underlined for additions):

(b) The holder of a design approval, including either the a type certificate or supplemental type certificate for an aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller for which application was made after January 28, 1981, must furnish at least one set of complete Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to the owner of each type aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller upon its delivery, or upon issuance of the first standard airworthiness certificate for the affected aircraft, whichever occurs later. The Instructions for Continued Airworthiness must be prepared in accordance with §§ 23.1529, 25.1529, 25.1729, 27.1529, 29.1529, 31.82, 33.4, 35.4, or part 26 of this subchapter, or as specified in the applicable airworthiness criteria for special classes of aircraft defined in § 21.17(b), as applicable. If the holder of a design approval chooses to designate parts as commercial, it must include in the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness a list of commercial parts submitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section. Thereafter, the holder of a design approval must make those instructions available to any other person required by this chapter to comply with any of the terms of those instructions. In addition, changes to the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness shall be made available to any person required by this chapter to comply with any of those instructions.

The article “the” is changed to “a” in the first sentence.  This clarifies that there may be more than one TC/STC for a design, and that each design approval holder has an independent obligation with respect to Instructions for Continued Airworthiness.  The phrase “for Continued Airworthiness” as added to the second sentence of this subsection to clarify that the reference is to Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (and not to any other instructions).

As you can see, these changes are fairly insignificant and they are clearly meant to help the reader correctly interpret the existing language.