I’m often asked by aircraft owners and non-aviation people alike “Why are aircraft logbooks important?”
The answer is simple: logbooks back-up and support the Statement of Airworthiness that an aircraft needs to be able to fly. And since logbooks are one of the major items that determine if an aircraft is to be considered Airworthy, they have a tremendous impact on the aircraft’s value.
Logbooks will either prove or disprove the validity of an aircraft’s Airworthiness when examined. Anyone trying to prove an aircraft’s Airworthiness knows that if the record demonstrates that all items have been accomplished to render the aircraft Airworthy … then the aircraft is determined to be Airworthy.
However, if information necessary to prove the aircraft’s airworthiness is missing from the record and can’t be proven on the aircraft itself; the FAA considers it the same as if the event never took place … and the aircraft is determined to be Unairworthy.
Additionally, when an aircraft is involved in an incident causing damage, personal injury, or loss of life; chances are a lawsuit or NTSB Investigation will follow. In this case, an aircraft’s logbooks may either convict, or absolve, maintenance personnel that have recently worked on the aircraft.
With so much riding on the condition of an aircraft’s logbooks you would think, as an industry, we would be highly focused and concerned with the aircraft’s records. But let’s face it, the condition of most aircraft records and logbooks today are … horrifying.
If you’ve never seen a set of aircraft logbooks for even a relatively new $20, $30, $40 or more million-dollar jet you’re in for a shock!
If you have, then you know that the logbooks and the records inside them are usually:
- found in paper form, many are hand-written, and are put together in various shapes, sizes, and formats, all in the same logbook,
- falling apart due to wear and tear,
- unorganized and chaotic, often missing critical information,
- never appear to have any value.
The last statement is, of course, far from the truth. Time and time again when one or more of an aircraft’s logbooks are missing, we find that the aircraft is impacted in value. The generally accepted depreciated value of an aircraft with damaged or missing logbooks is 30% or more. Even one document missing from the record may mean work on the aircraft must be performed again, or a life limited part replaced with another of known time and cycles.
In the year 2022, we find our industry grappling with COVID-related absences; retirements of a large number of industry veterans and leaders; new technologies like battery powered aircraft and supersonic flight; quieter, ever more fuel-efficient, longer-range aircraft; and the constant demand of a growing and expanding market.
Yet, with all these difficulties, also comes opportunity. As an industry we now have the opportunity to fix a problem that we, as an industry, have created. We can improve how we do aircraft records and the aircraft record keeping practices we use today.
We take pride in the sophistication of the aircraft we operate, in our diverse capabilities, and in the professional manner in which we conduct business. So why shouldn’t aircraft logbooks be included in this way of being? To do so is so simple … Aircraft Logbooks should be:
Standardized … like most of the things we have and use in our industry,
Cared for … and given the respect such a valuable resource is worthy of, and
Insured … like any other asset we depend on.
For that to happen aircraft operators, and their maintenance departments, need to start taking logbooks more seriously and be held accountable for the care and condition of the valuable documents in their charge. And like many undertakings, improving the way things are done usually takes education. As an industry, we should start this education process today.
Once we start giving logbooks the care and respect they should have, our problem with logbooks will begin to diminish. And that’s good for everyone.
Larry Hinebaugh is currently the Executive Director of a non-profit company called The Foundation for Business Aircraft Records Excellence. Larry was instrumental in creating this company after seeing so many aircraft operators inconvenienced, and aircraft owners financially harmed, by our industry’s poor logbook practices. A forty-year veteran of the Business Aviation Industry; Larry started his career as an A&P technician in a small jet maintenance shop in California; and has since worked as a Field Service Representative for Gulfstream Aerospace, Director of Maintenance for several corporations operating large business aircraft, and President of Aviation Consulting Group providing maintenance and completion representation to companies operating aircraft from Cessna’s to Boeing’s; before accepting his position with Business Aircraft Records (BAR).
