the.com/airworthiness
the boring paperwork standing between you and becoming a very expensive lawn dart.
means a formal certification that an aircraft meets safety and design standards required to legally fly.
from emerged with early 20th century aviation regulation, as governments realized that letting anyone bolt wings to an engine was a bad long-term strategy for public trust.
not one-timemust be continuously maintained, not just certified once
grounds fleetsa single directive can ground hundreds of planes overnight
paper trailevery bolt change gets logged for the plane's entire life
for instance
faa airworthiness directives — mandatory fixes issued after safety issues surface, US-wide
boeing 737 max grounding — worldwide fleet grounded 2019-2020 after two crashes
easa type certificates — europe's approval required before any new aircraft model flies