LO
ConstraintProcess & self-service1964-04-23
Only the regulator and the certificated persons it names may approve an aircraft for return to service after maintenance, US aviation rules say
Aircraft maintenance technicianoccupation page →
Event date / reported
1964-04-23
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Signing off and return to service
Approving the work and the aircraft for return to service, and signing the maintenance record that says so.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United States. The rule says that, except as it provides, no person other than the Administrator may approve an aircraft, airframe, engine, propeller, appliance or component part for return to service after maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding or alteration, and then lists who may — certificated mechanics with the right ratings, repair stations, air carriers and others. It keeps the approval with certificated persons and organisations; it says nothing about software.
What this means
The decision that an aircraft may fly again after maintenance is legally reserved for certificated people and organisations. Inspection tools feed that decision; they cannot make it.
What it does not yet show
A US rule; other regulators have their own licensing, and it does not measure how the work is done.
What you can check
Open 14 CFR 43.7 on eCFR and find "no person, other than the Administrator, may approve".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
Federal Aviation Administration — 14 CFR 43.7, Persons authorized to approve aircraft, airframes, aircraft engines, propellers, appliances, or component parts for return to service after maintenance (29 FR 5451, Apr. 23, 1964, as amended) · verified 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.
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