Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Finding inoperative equipment that of which is not listed on the MEL

Asked by: 3169 views , , ,
Aircraft Systems, Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, General Aviation

This is assuming you have a LOA and are issued the MEL for your operations and specific aircraft registration

Lets say you find an inoperative piece equipment that is not listed on the MEL.

Can you still defer that equipment like you would with 91.213 ? (deactivate,remove,placard etc.)

I've never had to use a MEL and only studied and read about it. I'm hearing from both sides saying you can and cant. I'm getting confused and would love some more clarification

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Kris Kortokrax on Dec 27, 2017

    If you have an MEL, you are operating under 91.213(a) (unless operating under 125, 135, 121) and must operate according to the MEL. You cannot defer items under 91.213(d) in that case. This is spelled out in 91.213(c), which says that if you are issued an MEL, you must use it.

    Now, having said this, operations with an MEL are generally more liberal than 91.213(d). For instance, you can usually defer a fuel gauge with an MEL, but you could not defer it under 91.213(d).

    +1 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Dec 31, 2017

    For a reference, you can look at AC 91-67. It was cancelled in November pending a review for conformity with ICAO procedures and I don’t know whether or not this issue is involved, but the present FAA stance reflected in it is, if a Part 91 operator with a MEL wishes to apply 91.213(d(, it must surrender the MEL.

    As Kris said, it’s one or the other.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Brian on Jan 12, 2018

    I just went through this with a local FSDO and can triple the above comments. You get one or the other, not both.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.