FAA lets single-engine turbine airplane owners choose manufacturer inspection programs

The Federal Aviation Administration will let owners and operators of single-engine turbine-powered airplanes replace the annual, 100-hour or progressive inspection (one done in stages through the year) with a manufacturer-recommended program, or one they write and the FAA approves, under a final rule published Tuesday, Nov. 10. The change takes effect Jan. 11, 2027. Switching is voluntary, and the existing inspections remain available.

The 100-hour inspection is required of aircraft that carry passengers or give flight instruction for hire. The FAA said heavy users doing 100-hour inspections often create maintenance problems through repeated disassembly and reassembly, and it expects programs built for a specific aircraft to be less invasive.

One manufacturer estimated an MSG-3 inspection program, a method manufacturers use to develop scheduled maintenance requirements, could save about $9,492 per aircraft (2024 dollars) compared with an annual inspection. The FAA projects $57.02 million a year in nationwide savings averaged over a decade, but that figure assumes every manufacturer builds a program, something the rule does not require. Owners who want to write their own program must put it in writing and submit it to the FAA for approval.

The rule also lets unmanned aircraft flown under commuter and on-demand rules follow the same inspection options. It gives fractional ownership program managers 96 hours instead of 72 to file mechanical reliability reports and allows them to file electronically.

Turbine helicopters got these options in 1989; the FAA excluded airplanes, then less common. More than 4,500 are now registered in the U.S. The FAA proposed the change on Jan. 31, 2024. None of the 21 comments the agency received opposed the inspection changes.