Expired Certificate of Airworthiness, an Unapproved Deferral and Six Passengers
You are a CPL holder and nominated commander for 5N-ALP, a Piper PA-31-350 based at Enugu (DNEN). On Monday at 09:00 the operator's ops manager asks you to fly six passengers to Lagos (DNMM), departing 11:00, because a charter client has paid in advance. The aircraft's certificate of airworthiness expired the previous Friday and the renewal inspection is booked for Thursday. There is a snag in the technical log: the right fuel quantity indicator reads intermittently. The ops manager has written 'deferred, monitor fuel by dipstick' in the technical log and signed it himself. The operator holds no approved minimum equipment list, and the insurance certificate on file states cover is conditional on a valid certificate of airworthiness. The aircraft's maintenance release was signed last week by a licensed engineer after a 50-hour check.
1. Which documents and records must you verify before this aircraft could lawfully be dispatched, and what does each one do?
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A commander satisfies themselves on the documentary chain of airworthiness and operation, not only on the technical log:
- Certificate of Registration - establishes the aircraft's nationality and identity, matching the marks 5N-ALP.
- Certificate of Airworthiness - the State's finding that the aircraft conforms to its approved type design and is safe for the category of operation. This is the item that fails here; it is the foundation of every other document, including the insurance.
- Maintenance release - confirms the aircraft has been maintained and released to service after the last check and any rectification.
- Technical log - records defects, their rectification or authorised deferral, and must carry the signature of a person authorised to make the entry.
- Approved MEL - the only instrument that authorises dispatch with a known defect. The operator has none.
- Mass and balance, performance data - required for six passengers on a PA-31.
- Insurance certificate, radio station licence, crew licences and medicals, operations manual - required for the flight, and the insurance wording here is decisive.
Any gap in the chain means the flight is not eligible to depart.
2. May you operate the flight as requested? Explain your legal position and what you do at the counter.
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No. Two independent bars exist, and either alone is sufficient.
The certificate of airworthiness has expired. Without a valid C of A, or a specific authorisation in lieu of one, the aircraft is not airworthy in the legal sense and public transport flights are prohibited. The insurer has expressly conditioned cover on a valid C of A, so the flight would be uninsured as well as unlawful.
The deferral is void. With no approved MEL, there is no mechanism for deferring the fuel quantity indication. The ops manager is not an authorised certifying person and cannot create a deferral by writing in the technical log; a defect on a fuel quantity indicator also affects fuel management and airworthiness on a twin.
What you do: decline in plain terms, record the refusal and the reasons in the technical log and in writing to the accountable manager, and do not sign the flight authorisation. If commercial pressure continues, report it to the NCAA. The commander's authority over the aircraft is decisive and cannot be overridden by a manager; the licence and the exposure are yours.
3. Is there any lawful way to get 5N-ALP to Lagos before Thursday, and what conditions would apply?
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Yes, potentially, but not with passengers and not on the strength of the existing paperwork.
Pathway. The operator may apply to the NCAA for a ferry flight or special flight permit, authorised to a specified route and purpose, supported by a maintenance organisation's certification that the aircraft is safe for the specific flight. Some States issue such permits with defined conditions: crew only, no passengers or cargo, daylight only, specified route and altitude, specific limitations on the defect, and validity limited to the flight itself.
Work through it in order:
- Clear or properly assess the fuel indication - a permit does not make an unsafe defect safe, and the approving engineer must address it.
- Obtain the permit in writing before flight, with the conditions attached.
- Comply strictly with every condition; a breach turns an authorised flight back into an unauthorised one.
- Ensure insurance is extended to the ferry flight and confirm it in writing.
If the permit is refused or cannot be obtained in time, the alternative is to carry the passengers on a serviceable aircraft or with another operator, and move 5N-ALP by non-flying means or await the inspection. The schedule is not a legal justification.