LO
ConstraintPhysical automation2013-01-28
US aviation rules let only certificated mechanics, or people they personally supervise, do maintenance and repairs on aircraft
Aircraft maintenance technicianoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2013-01-28
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Troubleshooting and repair
Isolating faults, replacing and repairing components, and doing the physical work on the aircraft to the maintenance manual.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United States. The regulation says that, except as it provides, no person may maintain, rebuild, alter or perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft or its components; that the holder of a mechanic certificate may do so as Part 65 provides; and that a person working under a certificated mechanic or repairman may do the work only if the supervisor personally observes it to the extent necessary to ensure it is done properly and is readily available in person. Last amended effective 28 January 2013. It also authorises repair stations and air carriers, which act through their staff, and says nothing about diagnostic software used to find a fault.
What this means
In the US, the hands that repair an aircraft must be a certificated mechanic's, or work under one's eye.
What it does not yet show
It says who may do the work, not whether software helps find the fault.
What you can check
Open 14 CFR 43.3 on eCFR and find "if the supervisor personally observes the work being done".
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
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 14 CFR 43.3, Persons authorized to perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alterations (as last amended by Amdt. 43-45, 77 FR 71096, effective January 28, 2013) · verified 2026-10-09 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-10-09 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.