2025-02 · NASA ASRS report 2209283
Flight Instructor and passenger/pilot reported the Instructor refused the aircraft due to maintenance issues. Reporters stated the aircraft owner departed the airport without the maintenance issued being resolved.
While preflighting a flight club C172-S we discovered that the pneumatic stall warning system was inoperative and that the left aileron; where the connecting push rod connects to the aileron assembly; was making an occasional popping sound. As PIC I discontinued the flight operation and removed the aircraft from service and squawked the items in the maintenance record. Due to the ailerons being a flight control and the stall warning system being required equipment in accordance with the aircraft operating handbook; section 6; equipment list; where the system is shown as being a required item; I deemed the aircraft not airworthy. Upon making the owner of the aircraft aware he said that they would start to perform the required maintenance. The following morning I received a text from the owner. In this text the owner displayed that he was unhappy that I grounded the aircraft and that I was not in a position to determine that the aircraft is not airworthy because I'm not an A&P mechanic. This statement contradicts multiple FARs such as 91.3 and 91.7 which give the PIC the authority to discontinue a flight and deem an aircraft as not airworthy and remove it from service. This morning Aircraft X departed the ZZZ airport with inoperative equipment and flight control anomalies that are required for general airworthiness. Thus the owner/PIC displayed anti-authority mindsets and effected the safe operation of the aircraft within the NAS. I believe that to prevent this from occurring in the future that the FSDO needs to audit the maintenance and preventive maintenance logs/squawk sheets.
I was supposed to be a backseat passenger on a part 91 flight with a couple of friends in Aircraft X. While I and my friends Person A (CFI and PIC of the flight); Person B (CPL); and myself (IR PPL) were pre-flighting Aircraft X; a flight club plane; we noticed some anomalies having to do with the stall warning system as well as an anomaly with the left aileron. The connecting push rod would make an occasional popping sound when pushed up; and that prompted us to check the push rod further. When we did that; we noticed the push rod was moving abnormally than it normally should. Additionally; the stall warning horn would not activate when tested; and it is a required item in the KOEL in the POH for this model. Knowing this; they decided to discontinue the flight. They had squawked the plane with the anomalies mentioned in the maintenance record. The next morning; Person A received a text from the owner; who was unhappy that he had grounded the plane and that he claimed the PIC was not authorized to take the aircraft out of service; which contradicts FAR 91.3 and 91.7. This morning at about XA:47 Aircraft X the owner/PIC departed ZZZ airport with inoperative equipment and flight control anomalies required for general airworthiness. The owner/PIC displayed anti-authority mindsets and continued operation with an aircraft in an unsafe condition. The corrective action to be taken for this would be to have the FSDO audit the maintenance records and squawks.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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