Inoperative Equipment and the MEL (91.213)
How to legally fly with something broken — the two paths under 91.213, the four-question test when you have no MEL, and the placard-and-record rule.
Something is inoperative on the aircraft — a broken landing light, a dead second radio. Can you legally fly? 14 CFR 91.213 gives two paths.
With a Minimum Equipment List
If the aircraft has an FAA-approved Minimum Equipment List (MEL), it becomes the authority: you may operate with the listed items inoperative only under the conditions and limitations the MEL specifies (placarding, time limits, procedures). The MEL is tailored to that aircraft and, with its letter of authorization, is effectively part of its operating rules.
Without an MEL — the four-question test
Most light general-aviation aircraft have no MEL and instead use 91.213(d). An inoperative item may be deferred only if it is not:
- part of the VFR-day type certification equipment,
- listed as required on the aircraft's equipment list / kinds-of-operation list for that flight,
- required by 14 CFR 91.205 for the specific operation, or
- required by an Airworthiness Directive.
If it clears all four, the inoperative item must then be removed or deactivated and placarded "INOPERATIVE," and a pilot or mechanic must determine that flying without it is not a hazard.
Placard and record
Deactivation by a mechanic or the required placarding must be handled per the rule, and the action recorded. When in doubt, the conservative answer is to fix it or ask a mechanic — "it still flies" is not the legal test. See also the required-equipment list in 91.205.
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*Reference and training only — not for navigation or as legal advice. Always consult the current 14 CFR, the AIM, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and a certificated flight instructor.*