Track Airworthiness Directives and keep the compliance record
Set an inspection's source to Airworthiness Directive and give it the AD number. Signing it off then keeps a permanent record of what was done, the time in service and who certified it, which is what 14 CFR 91.417 asks you to keep. The Compliance log is the history and the Airworthiness compliance report is the copy you hand an inspector.
For owners, admins and technicians
Set an inspection's Where this comes from to Airworthiness Directive and give it the AD number. From then on, signing it off keeps a permanent compliance record: what was done, the time in service, and who certified it. WebMaintenance → Compliance log is the history, and the Airworthiness compliance report is the copy you hand an inspector.
Why an AD is not just another reminder#
An Airworthiness Directive is binding under 14 CFR Part 39. It is federal law, not the manufacturer's advice, and flying out of compliance breaks 91.403(a). A Service Bulletin, by contrast, is advisory.
That difference has a practical consequence: 91.417 asks you to keep a record, per airframe, of the AD number and revision, what you did to comply, the time in service when you did it, and when the next action falls due. A reminder that has simply gone away does not satisfy that.
Tell an inspection it is an AD#
Open Maintenance and click Add inspections
Choose Recurring for a repeating AD, or One-off for one with a single compliance deadline.
Set the interval as usual
For "every 100 hours or 12 months, whichever comes first", pick Whichever comes first and fill in both clocks.
Open Where this comes from and choose Airworthiness Directive
Three more fields appear. They stay hidden for an ordinary shop reminder, so an oil change does not grow boxes it has no answers for.
Add inspections, Where this comes from
Choosing an inspection's source
Enter the document number
The AD number as published, for example 2015-19-07. This one is required: an AD
without its number cannot be found, filtered, or listed on the report an inspector
reads.
Add the revision and link if you have them
The revision currently in force, and a link to the issuing authority's copy.
An AD badge now appears on that inspection everywhere it is listed, so a regulation is distinguishable from a shop interval at a glance.
Sign it off, and keep the record#
When you sign an AD off, the sign-off form opens with Keep a compliance record already switched on.
Fill in what was done
The method of compliance. This is the sentence an inspector actually reads, so write it the way you would write it in the logbook: "Visual and dye-penetrant inspection of the forward spar carry-through per paragraph (g)(1). No cracking found."
Check both meters
Tach and Hobbs are both captured, whatever the inspection was counting, because 91.417 asks for time in service and not for whichever clock the schedule happened to use. They are filled in from the aircraft, so usually you are confirming rather than typing.
Confirm who certified it
Your name and certificate fill in from your profile. Change them if somebody else signed: an outside IA has no account here, and the record has to say who actually certified the work.
Sign off, compliance record
The compliance record section of a sign-off
Set your certificate once#
WebProfile → Mechanic certificate holds your FAA certificate number and type. Enter it once and it fills in every time you sign something off.
This is worth two minutes. Six to eight exact characters, typed at every signature, is how a compliance log ends up full of blanks and typos, and a record with the wrong certificate number on it is no better than no record.
The number on a record is a copy taken at signature, not a link to your account. Changing your profile later does not alter anything already signed, and it should not.
Read the history#
WebMaintenance → Compliance log lists every inspection this school has signed off, newest first, with the aircraft, the rule, both meter readings and who certified it. Search it by AD number, aircraft, mechanic, or anything in the method text.
Maintenance, Compliance log
The compliance log
Click any row for the full write-up.
Hand it to an inspector#
WebReports → Airworthiness compliance is the same information as a report: filter it to one aircraft, group it, add the method-of-compliance column, and export.
Technicians can open this report. It is filed under fleet reports rather than compliance reports for exactly that reason.
What this does not do yet#
Worth knowing before you rely on it:
- It does not tell you which ADs apply to your aircraft. You add the ones that apply; there is no catalogue that proposes them from your make, model and serial.
- Component ADs stay with the airframe. An engine AD is tracked against the aircraft, so it does not follow the engine through an overhaul swap.
- "Due at the next annual" cannot be expressed. Use the interval the AD gives in hours or months.
- A one-off AD takes a date, not an hours deadline. For "comply within the next 50 hours", track it as a recurring hour interval and stop tracking it once done.
Related#
- Sign off a completed inspection
- Add the standard airworthiness inspections
- How maintenance tracking works
Still stuck on this?
Email support@aerscheduler.com and tell us what you were trying to do. We answer.