Do Missing Placards Ground an Aircraft?

FAA-approved airplane flying manual or pilot's operating handbook provide details about specific information that must be displayed.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 09:48 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

[Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

Key Takeaways:

A missing cockpit placard can render an aircraft unairworthy if it pertains to an "operating limitation" as required by FAR 91.9.
Pilots must consult the aircraft's FAA-approved Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) to identify which specific placards are mandatory.
Required placards typically detail critical operational information, such as fuel selector positions, spin recovery procedures, or warnings about aerobatic maneuvers.
Not all placards are mandatory; owner-added placards (e.g., "Don't Put Anything on Glareshield") do not affect an aircraft's airworthiness.

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Question: If an aircraft is missing a cockpit placard, does that render the aircraft unairworthy? I took a friend’s kid up last weekend in a rental Cessna 172, and he tried to peel off some of the stickers from the panel, partially succeeding. They have been replaced, but I’m wondering if missing placards would ground an airplane?

Answer: Do the missing placards detail operating limitations for the aircraft? Per FAR 91.9, “Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section (which covers helicopter over water operations), no person may operate a civil aircraft without complying with the operating limitations specified in the approved airplane or rotorcraft flight manual, markings, and placards, or as otherwise prescribed by the certificating authority of the country of registry.”