# 14 CFR 91.407: Flying after maintenance or alteration

> After any maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding or alteration, the aircraft cannot fly until an authorized person approves it for return to service and the logbook entry is made. Work that may have changed how it flies also needs a test flight by at least a private pilot before passengers ride along.

Source: https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-407
Official text: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/section-91.407 (eCFR, current as of 2026-10-15; section last amended 2016-12-30)

## In plain English

- The return to service must be approved by someone 43.7 authorizes. [(a)(1)](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-407#a-1)
- The 43.9 or 43.11 record entry must exist before the flight. [(a)(2)](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-407#a-2)
- If the work may have appreciably changed the flight characteristics, a private pilot or higher flies it first, checks the work, and logs the flight. No passengers until then. [(b)](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-407#b)
- The test flight can be skipped when ground tests or inspection show conclusively that flight characteristics did not change. [(c)](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-407#c)

## Common questions

**Does an oil change need a test flight?**

No. The test flight in paragraph (b) applies only when the work may have appreciably changed the flight characteristics or substantially affected operation in flight, such as control surface rigging.

**Can a student pilot do the operational check flight?**

No. Paragraph (b) requires an appropriately rated pilot with at least a private pilot certificate.

## Official text of 14 CFR 91.407

Operation after maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, or alteration.

(a) No person may operate any aircraft that has undergone maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, or alteration unless:

  (1) It has been approved for return to service by a person authorized under § 43.7 of this chapter; and

  (2) The maintenance record entry required by § 43.9 or § 43.11, as applicable, of this chapter has been made.

(b) No person may carry any person (other than crewmembers) in an aircraft that has been maintained, rebuilt, or altered in a manner that may have appreciably changed its flight characteristics or substantially affected its operation in flight until an appropriately rated pilot with at least a private pilot certificate flies the aircraft, makes an operational check of the maintenance performed or alteration made, and logs the flight in the aircraft records.

(c) The aircraft does not have to be flown as required by paragraph (b) of this section if, prior to flight, ground tests, inspection, or both show conclusively that the maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, or alteration has not appreciably changed the flight characteristics or substantially affected the flight operation of the aircraft.

## Related

- [14 CFR 43.7: Who may approve a return to service](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/43-7.md)
- [14 CFR 43.9: What a maintenance logbook entry must say](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/43-9.md)
- [14 CFR 43.11: What an inspection logbook entry must say](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/43-11.md)
- [14 CFR 91.405: Maintenance the owner must have done](https://www.aerscheduler.com/regulations/91-405.md)

AerScheduler keeps each aircraft's inspections and squawks in one place, and a grounded aircraft comes off the schedule. [https://www.aerscheduler.com/features/maintenance](https://www.aerscheduler.com/features/maintenance)

_The plain-English summary is AerScheduler's reading of the rule, not legal advice. The official text above is the eCFR's, published by the Office of the Federal Register; the eCFR is the current text._