Direct Answer — Flying Without an MEL
Under 14 CFR §91.213(d), a person may take off in operations conducted under Part 91 with certain inoperative instruments and equipment installed without an approved Minimum Equipment List — but only when all four conditions are met. The aircraft must be an eligible type under (d)(1); the inoperative item must not be required equipment under (d)(2) (not part of VFR-day type certification equipment, not on the aircraft equipment list or Kinds of Operations Equipment List, not required by §91.205 for the operation, and not required by an airworthiness directive); the item must be removed or deactivated and placarded under (d)(3), with the maintenance recorded per §43.9; and a pilot or a person qualified to perform maintenance must determine under (d)(4) that the item does not constitute a hazard. This is the no-MEL path — distinct from the approved-MEL path in §91.213(a). It does not extend to turbine-powered airplanes, so most turbine Part 135 operations cannot use it.
A placard is not permission — the four conditions are
Placarding an inoperative item “Inoperative” is one of the four conditions, not a shortcut around the rest. If the item is required by §91.205 for the operation you intend to fly, or is part of the VFR-day type certification equipment, or is required by an airworthiness directive, you may not defer it under §91.213(d) at all — placard or no placard. And under §91.7(b), the pilot in command remains responsible for determining the aircraft is in condition for safe flight.
Two Deferral Paths — and This Is the One Without an MEL
14 CFR §91.213 contains two ways to operate an aircraft with inoperative equipment installed, and confusing them is the most common conceptual error. One path uses an approved Minimum Equipment List; the other does not. Almost every general-aviation piston aircraft flies under the second path, because it never had an MEL developed for it.
The approved-MEL path — §91.213(a)
Used when the operator holds an approved Minimum Equipment List for the specific aircraft, with a letter of authorization (Part 91) or operations specifications (Part 135). The deferral generates a deferral record available to the pilot, a §43.9 maintenance entry, a placard, and a repair-category clock (A / B / C / D).
Covered elsewhere
See the MEL & CDL deferral records guide. This article does not duplicate it.
The no-MEL path — §91.213(d)
Used for eligible Part 91 aircraft operating without an approved MEL — the typical piston single or twin. No letter of authorization, no MEL deferral form, no repair-category timer. Instead: an eligibility test, a required-equipment test, removal or deactivation with a placard, and a not-a-hazard determination.
The record
A §43.9 maintenance entry for the removal or deactivation, plus the cockpit placard.
The text of the rule itself draws the line. §91.213(d) opens by carving itself out from the MEL paths: except for operations conducted in accordance with paragraph (a) or (c) of the section, a person may take off an aircraft in operations conducted under Part 91 with inoperative instruments and equipment without an approved Minimum Equipment List provided the four conditions that follow are met. And the closing language of paragraph (d) states that an aircraft with inoperative instruments or equipment handled this way is considered to be in a properly altered condition acceptable to the Administrator — which is why the maintenance record matters: the deferral is treated as an alteration of the aircraft configuration.
Primary regulations cited in this section: 14 CFR §91.213 (Inoperative instruments and equipment), 14 CFR §91.205 (Powered civil aircraft — instrument and equipment requirements).
The Four Conditions of §91.213(d)
The no-MEL path is a four-part test, and the conditions are cumulative — fail any one and the path is closed. Read them in order, because the first two decide whether the path is even available before you ever touch a placard or a logbook.
- 1
The flight operation is conducted in an eligible aircraft
§91.213(d)(1)Under (d)(1)(i): a rotorcraft, non-turbine-powered airplane, glider, lighter-than-air aircraft, powered parachute, or weight-shift-control aircraft for which a master minimum equipment list has not been developed. Under (d)(1)(ii): a small rotorcraft, nonturbine-powered small airplane, glider, or lighter-than-air aircraft for which a Master Minimum Equipment List has been developed. The practical takeaway: the listed airplane categories are non-turbine-powered, so the path broadly does not reach turbine-powered airplanes — which is why turbine charter aircraft run an approved MEL instead.
- 2
The inoperative item is not required equipment
§91.213(d)(2)The inoperative instruments and equipment are not: (i) part of the VFR-day type certification instruments and equipment prescribed in the airworthiness regulations under which the aircraft was type certificated; (ii) indicated as required on the aircraft equipment list, or on the Kinds of Operations Equipment List for the kind of flight operation being conducted; (iii) required by §91.205 or any other rule of Part 91 for the specific kind of flight operation being conducted; or (iv) required to be operational by an airworthiness directive. This is the gate that disqualifies most safety-critical items.
- 3
The item is removed or deactivated, and placarded
§91.213(d)(3)The inoperative instruments and equipment are either (i) removed from the aircraft, the cockpit control placarded, and the maintenance recorded in accordance with §43.9; or (ii) deactivated and placarded "Inoperative." If deactivation of the inoperative instrument or equipment involves maintenance, it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with Part 43. The placard is on the control or instrument so the crew operates accordingly.
- 4
A qualified person determines it is not a hazard
§91.213(d)(4)A determination is made by a pilot, who is certificated and appropriately rated under Part 61, or by a person, who is certificated and appropriately rated to perform maintenance on the aircraft, that the inoperative instrument or equipment does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft. Either a qualified pilot or qualified maintenance personnel may make this not-a-hazard call.
The hazard determination is not the maintenance authorization
Condition (d)(4) is the not-a-hazard finding, which a qualified pilot may make. But the removal or deactivation in (d)(3) is maintenance, and who may perform and approve that work is governed by Part 43, not by (d)(4). A private pilot may perform preventive maintenance under §43.3(g) on an aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under Part 121, 129, or 135 — but work beyond preventive maintenance, or the return-to-service approval, runs through §43.7. Confirm who may perform and sign for the specific item with a certificated A&P.
Related Aviation Compliance Guides
The Required-Equipment Test — §91.205 Decides Most Cases
Condition (d)(2)(iii) is where most deferral questions are actually answered: is the inoperative item required by §91.205 for the operation you intend to fly? §91.205 is the master list of minimum instruments and equipment that must be installed and operable, organized by the kind of operation. The lists are cumulative: VFR night requires everything in VFR day plus the night items, and IFR requires VFR day and night equipment plus the IFR items. That means the same inoperative component can be deferrable for one flight and disqualifying for another.
The VFR-day list under §91.205(b) includes the airspeed indicator, altimeter, magnetic direction indicator, a tachometer for each engine, oil pressure gauge for each engine using a pressure system, temperature gauge for each liquid-cooled engine, oil temperature gauge for each air-cooled engine, manifold pressure gauge for each altitude engine, fuel gauge indicating the quantity in each tank, landing gear position indicator if the aircraft has retractable gear, an approved anticollision light system (per the certification-date condition), an approved safety belt, and an emergency locator transmitter if required, among others.
If any of these is the inoperative item and you intend a VFR-day flight, it is required by §91.205(b) for that operation — so §91.213(d)(2)(iii) bars deferring it on the no-MEL path. It must be repaired, or you need a special flight permit.
VFR night under §91.205(c) requires the VFR-day equipment plus approved position lights, an approved aviation red or aviation white anticollision light system, an adequate source of electrical energy for the installed electrical and radio equipment, and one spare set of fuses (or three spare fuses of each kind required). An item that is freely deferrable in daylight — position lights, for instance — becomes required equipment at night, so the determination has to be tied to the specific operation.
IFR under §91.205(d) requires the VFR day and night equipment plus two-way radio communication and navigation equipment suitable for the route, a gyroscopic rate-of-turn indicator, a slip-skid indicator, a sensitive altimeter adjustable for barometric pressure, a clock displaying hours, minutes, and seconds, a generator or alternator of adequate capacity, a gyroscopic pitch and bank indicator, and a gyroscopic direction indicator. Under IFR, far more of the panel is required equipment, so the deferral window is much narrower.
The other three bars in (d)(2) matter too, and they are easy to overlook. VFR-day type certification equipment (d)(2)(i) is the equipment the aircraft was originally certificated with for VFR-day operation — a separate list from §91.205 that you confirm against the type certificate data and the aircraft equipment list. The aircraft equipment list and the Kinds of Operations Equipment List (d)(2)(ii) are aircraft-specific documents; if the item is marked required there, it is out. And an item required to be operational by an airworthiness directive (d)(2)(iv) can never be deferred on this path — which ties directly into your airworthiness directive compliance records. Always check the AD status before assuming an item is deferrable.
For the broader picture of what your aircraft files must prove at any moment, see the Part 91 aircraft records requirements and the ARROW airworthiness and registration documents an inspector expects on board.
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The Record — Placard Plus a §43.9 Maintenance Entry
The no-MEL path produces two pieces of evidence: the cockpit placard and a maintenance record. The placard is the visible marker; the maintenance record is the durable proof. Which record you create depends on which (d)(3) option you used.
1. The placard
Required by both options of §91.213(d)(3). If the item is removed, the cockpit control is placarded; if the item is deactivated, it is placarded "Inoperative." The placard marks the affected control or instrument so the crew operates the aircraft consistent with the deferral. It proves a condition exists — but on its own it does not establish who deferred the item, when, or that the item was found not to constitute a hazard.
2. The §43.9 maintenance record entry
When the item is removed under (d)(3)(i), the maintenance must be recorded in accordance with §43.9. When the item is deactivated under (d)(3)(ii) and that deactivation involves maintenance, it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with Part 43. A §43.9(a) entry contains a description of the work performed, the date of completion, the name of the person performing the work, and the signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate of the person approving the aircraft for return to service. Note §43.9 covers maintenance and alteration entries — inspection entries are separately governed by §43.11.
3. The not-a-hazard determination (kept with the record)
Condition (d)(4) requires a pilot certificated and appropriately rated under Part 61, or a person certificated and appropriately rated to perform maintenance on the aircraft, to determine the inoperative item does not constitute a hazard. The regulation does not prescribe a separate form for this finding, but documenting who made it and when — typically captured in or alongside the maintenance record — is what lets you demonstrate the condition was satisfied rather than assumed.
“Standby vacuum-pump warning annunciator (non-required, optional equipment) found inoperative. Verified not part of VFR-day type certification equipment, not on the aircraft equipment list/KOEL, not required by §91.205 for VFR-day operation, and not required by any AD. Annunciator circuit deactivated and the cockpit control placarded ‘INOP.’ Determined not to constitute a hazard to the aircraft per §91.213(d)(4). Aircraft approved for return to service. [Name]. Certificate No. 0000000. [Signature]. [Date].”
- States the item and that it was checked against all four bars in §91.213(d)(2) — the eligibility evidence
- Records the (d)(3) action taken (deactivated and placarded) so the placard has a matching log entry
- Captures the (d)(4) not-a-hazard determination and who made it
- Closes with the §43.9(a) return-to-service signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate
Illustrative format only — not a template for a specific aircraft. The exact wording, who may perform and sign the maintenance, and whether the item is genuinely non-required must be confirmed against your aircraft documents and a certificated A&P or IA.
The maintenance-entry mechanics here are the same ones covered in depth in the §43.9 maintenance record entry requirements guide, and the inspection-entry rules that §43.9 carves out are in the §91.409 annual inspection requirements. If you operate under Part 135 and are weighing whether this path is even open to you, start with the MEL & CDL records guide instead — most Part 135 turbine fleets cannot use §91.213(d).
After You Defer — The Open Condition Does Not Live Forever
A no-MEL deferral has no repair-category clock — but it is not an open-ended permission to ignore the item, and the owner or operator carries continuing duties. Two rules close the loop.
Repaired by the next required inspection
Under §91.405(c), the owner or operator shall have any inoperative instrument or item of equipment, permitted to be inoperative by §91.213(d)(2), repaired, replaced, removed, or inspected at the next required inspection. The annual or 100-hour inspection is the backstop that forces the open condition to be addressed.
Records retained under §91.417
The §43.9 maintenance entry documenting the removal or deactivation is retained under §91.417(b)(1): until the work is repeated or superseded by other work, or for one year after the work is performed. When the item is repaired, that correction is its own entry, and the two together prove the item was tracked from deferral to repair.
There is a related placard duty worth naming. When an inspection turns up discrepancies that include inoperative instruments or equipment, §91.405(d) requires the owner or operator to ensure a placard has been installed as required by §43.11 — the inspection-records rule. So the placard discipline that §91.213(d) requires at the moment of deferral has a parallel at the inspection level. The through-line across all of it: an inoperative item is either repaired, properly deferred with a record and a placard, or the aircraft does not fly.
And none of this displaces the pilot-in-command responsibility. Under §91.7, no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in an airworthy condition, and the pilot in command is responsible for determining whether the aircraft is in condition for safe flight and shall discontinue the flight when unairworthy conditions occur. A correctly documented §91.213(d) deferral keeps the aircraft legal to operate with the item inoperative; it does not relieve the PIC of the airworthiness determination.
If you fly under Part 135, the same inoperative-equipment discipline is woven through the records a Part 135 operator must keep and is exactly the kind of evidence an inspector samples during a Part 135 surveillance audit. It also intersects with operational control — the certificate holder, not the aircraft owner, answers for whether the operation stayed within the rules — and is one of the record sets a maturing operator is expected to demonstrate as the Part 135 SMS 2027 deadline approaches.
FileFlo as the Deferral Records Layer
FileFlo is a compliance document intelligence platform — a read-only proof layer that sits alongside your maintenance tracking and flight operations stack. It does not run your dispatch, your maintenance-tracking system, or your safety program, and it does not make deferral, hazard, or airworthiness decisions. What it does is classify, index, and surface the §43.9 maintenance entries, placards, and inspection records that prove your inoperative-equipment status when an inspector asks.
- Classifies uploaded §43.9 deferral and return-to-service entries against the governing reference (§91.213, §91.205, §43.9, §91.417)
- Indexes the placard photo and the matching maintenance entry together so a placarded item always has a corresponding record
- Surfaces each open §91.213(d) deferral so it is addressed by the next required inspection per §91.405(c) — not forgotten
- Tracks the §43.9 retention window under §91.417(b)(1) and flags the closing entry when the item is repaired
- Generates an inspector-format inoperative-equipment view on demand: every open deferral, the item, the action taken, and the supporting record
FileFlo classifies 600+ aviation document types and manages records across Part 91, Part 135, and Part 145 operators in a single platform. Pricing: Starter $89/mo, Professional $299/mo. 5-day free trial, no credit card required. FileFlo keeps the documents that prove compliance audit-ready — it does not provide or run a safety management system (SMS), dispatch system, or maintenance-tracking system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I fly a Part 91 aircraft with inoperative equipment if I do not have an MEL?
Sometimes, under a narrow path. 14 CFR §91.213(d) lets a person take off in operations conducted under Part 91 with certain inoperative instruments and equipment installed, without an approved Minimum Equipment List, but only when every condition in (d)(1) through (d)(4) is met. The aircraft must be an eligible type under (d)(1); the inoperative item must not be one of the four kinds of required equipment listed in (d)(2); the item must be removed or deactivated and placarded under (d)(3); and a pilot or a person qualified to perform maintenance must determine under (d)(4) that the inoperative item does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft. If any one of those fails, the no-MEL path is not available and you would need an approved MEL or a special flight permit.
What does 14 CFR §91.213(d) actually require, step by step?
Four conditions, and they are cumulative. (d)(1): the flight operation is conducted in an eligible aircraft — under (d)(1)(i) a rotorcraft, non-turbine-powered airplane, glider, lighter-than-air aircraft, powered parachute, or weight-shift-control aircraft for which a master minimum equipment list has not been developed, or under (d)(1)(ii) a small rotorcraft, nonturbine-powered small airplane, glider, or lighter-than-air aircraft for which a Master Minimum Equipment List has been developed. (d)(2): the inoperative instruments and equipment are not part of the VFR-day type certification instruments and equipment, not indicated as required on the aircraft equipment list or the Kinds of Operations Equipment List, not required by §91.205 or any other rule of Part 91 for the specific kind of operation, and not required to be operational by an airworthiness directive. (d)(3): the items are removed from the aircraft with the cockpit control placarded and the maintenance recorded per §43.9, or deactivated and placarded Inoperative — and if deactivation involves maintenance it is accomplished and recorded per Part 43. (d)(4): a pilot certificated and appropriately rated under Part 61, or a person certificated and appropriately rated to perform maintenance on the aircraft, determines the inoperative item does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft.
What is the record when I defer equipment under §91.213(d) without an MEL?
The record depends on which (d)(3) option you used. If the item is removed, §91.213(d)(3)(i) requires the cockpit control to be placarded and the maintenance to be recorded in accordance with §43.9 — a maintenance record entry containing a description of the work, the date of completion, the name of the person performing the work, and the signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate of the person approving the aircraft for return to service. If the item is deactivated, §91.213(d)(3)(ii) requires the placard, and if that deactivation involves maintenance it must be accomplished and recorded in accordance with Part 43. Either way the placard is one piece of the proof, not the whole proof. There is no MEL deferral form and no repair-category clock on this path because there is no MEL — but the maintenance record that documents the removal or deactivation is the durable evidence an inspector relies on, and the placard alone does not establish who deferred the item, when, or that it was found not to be a hazard.
Which equipment can never be deferred on the no-MEL path?
Four categories, listed in §91.213(d)(2). An inoperative item may not be deferred on this path if it is (i) part of the VFR-day type certification instruments and equipment prescribed in the airworthiness regulations under which the aircraft was type certificated; (ii) indicated as required on the aircraft equipment list or on the Kinds of Operations Equipment List for the kind of flight operation being conducted; (iii) required by §91.205 or any other rule of Part 91 for the specific kind of flight operation being conducted; or (iv) required to be operational by an airworthiness directive. In practice that means you check the item against the §91.205 minimum-equipment list for the operation you intend to fly: an airspeed indicator, altimeter, or magnetic direction indicator is required for VFR day under §91.205(b) and can never ride as a placarded deferral, while a piece of optional equipment that is not on any required list, not in an AD, and not part of VFR-day type certification may be eligible.
Does §91.205 tell me whether a specific instrument can be deferred?
It is the primary test for condition (d)(2)(iii). 14 CFR §91.205 lists the minimum instruments and equipment that must be installed and in operable condition for the operation being flown: §91.205(b) for VFR day, §91.205(c) for VFR night, and §91.205(d) for IFR. If the inoperative item appears on the list for the operation you intend to conduct, it is required by §91.205 for that operation and §91.213(d)(2)(iii) bars deferring it. The §91.205 lists are cumulative by operation — VFR night requires everything in the VFR-day list plus the night items, and IFR requires the VFR day and night equipment plus the IFR items — so the same inoperative component can be deferrable for one kind of flight and disqualifying for another. That is why the determination has to be made against the specific operation, not in the abstract.
Who makes the determination that the inoperative item is not a hazard?
Under §91.213(d)(4), the determination is made by a pilot who is certificated and appropriately rated under Part 61 of this chapter, or by a person who is certificated and appropriately rated to perform maintenance on the aircraft, that the inoperative instrument or equipment does not constitute a hazard to the aircraft. The rule expressly allows either qualified pilot or qualified maintenance personnel to make the not-a-hazard call. Note that this is the hazard determination only; the removal or deactivation work itself in (d)(3) is maintenance, and who may perform and record that — including whether a pilot may perform it as preventive maintenance under §43.3(g) on an aircraft not used under Part 121, 129, or 135 — is governed separately by Part 43. The (d)(4) not-a-hazard finding does not by itself authorize the maintenance.
How is the no-MEL §91.213(d) path different from the approved-MEL path?
They are different mechanisms with different documents. The approved-MEL path lives in §91.213(a) (and §135.179 for Part 135): it requires an approved Minimum Equipment List for the specific aircraft, a letter of authorization or operations specifications, a deferral record available to the pilot, and a repair-category clock (Category A, B, C, or D) that caps how long each item may stay deferred. The no-MEL path in §91.213(d) is for eligible Part 91 aircraft that do not operate under an approved MEL: there is no letter of authorization, no MEL deferral form, and no repair-category timer — instead there is the §43.9 maintenance record for the removal or deactivation, the placard, and the §91.213(d)(4) hazard determination. The no-MEL path also has a hard scope limit in (d)(1) — broadly, it does not extend to turbine-powered airplanes — so most turbine Part 135 operations cannot use it and must run an approved MEL. We cover the approved-MEL path in detail in the MEL and CDL records guide; this article is the no-MEL Part 91 path.
How long do I keep the record of a §91.213(d) deferral?
The maintenance record that documents the removal or deactivation is a §43.9 maintenance entry, and it follows the Part 91 retention rule in 14 CFR §91.417(b)(1): records of maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alteration are retained until the work is repeated or superseded by other work, or for one year after the work is performed. When the inoperative item is later repaired and the equipment is restored to operative condition, that correction is itself a maintenance record entry — and the deferral entry plus its closing entry together form the chain that proves the item was tracked from deferral to repair. Separately, §91.405(c) requires the owner or operator to have any inoperative instrument or item of equipment permitted to be inoperative by §91.213(d)(2) repaired, replaced, removed, or inspected at the next required inspection, so the open condition is not allowed to persist indefinitely just because it was placarded.
Don't let a placarded item become an undocumented one
FileFlo classifies every uploaded §43.9 deferral and return-to-service entry against its governing reference, keeps the placard and the maintenance record indexed together, surfaces each open §91.213(d) deferral so it is addressed by the next required inspection, and generates a complete inoperative-equipment status view on demand. Starter plan $89/mo. Professional $299/mo. 5-day free trial — no credit card required.
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Written by Chad Griffith, Founder, FileFlo — compliance document intelligence. Reviewed June 13, 2026. FileFlo is a compliance document intelligence platform — not legal counsel or an A&P. Whether a specific item may be deferred under §91.213(d), and who may perform and record the work, must be verified against §91.205, the aircraft equipment list, applicable airworthiness directives, and a certificated A&P or IA before flight.