As a diligent pilot you always do a thorough preflight inspection and use your checklists. You “become familiar with all available information concerning that flight” just like the FAA requires. But, how often do you remember to check that all required documents are onboard the airplane?
Let’s start with you, the pilot. Have you remembered your pilot certificate, your medical certificate, and a government issued ID? For most of us, we routinely carry these things with us. But forgot your wallet or purse? You need to go back home and get these three things before you can legally fly. (There are some exceptions to the medical certificate requirement. If these exceptions apply to you, you probably already know about them. You can see these exceptions in detail here.)
Now, on to the airplane. As pilots, we absolutely love our acronyms and mnemonics. So, as you would expect, we have one for required documents. The documents required onboard an airplane are easily remembered with the mnemonic ARROW.
A – Airworthiness certificate
R – Registration
R – Radio station license (not required for flights within the US)
O – Pilot Operating Handbook
W – Weight and balance data
If you are an aircraft owner, you probably put these documents in the aircraft long ago and have since forgotten about them. If you are a renter, your FBO or flight school probably took care of this. In any case, the next time you fly be sure to check. As the pilot in command, YOU are responsible for ensuring these documents are on board!
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