The Records an FAA Inspector Asks For First:
A Ranked Top 12 for Part 135

There is no single fixed list, because the FAA's surveillance is risk-based rather than a scripted checklist — but in practice an inspector almost always opens with the documents that establish your authority to operate and the airworthiness and qualification of what is in front of them. On a ramp inspection that means the airworthiness and registration certificates, the operating limitations and current weight-and-balance data, the pilot's certificate and current medical, the aircraft maintenance log showing any open discrepancies, and (for multiengine aircraft) the completed load manifest required by 14 CFR §135.63(c). On a base or records inspection the same logic applies to the file room: the operating certificate and operations specifications, the current aircraft list, individual pilot and flight-attendant records, the airworthiness-status records, and the approved manuals. The ranked Top 12 on this page maps each one to its governing CFR section.

Under 14 CFR §135.63(a)(4) the certificate holder must keep an individual record for each pilot containing the pilot's full name; the certificate (by type and number) and ratings held; aeronautical experience in sufficient detail to determine qualification; current duties and the date assigned to them; the effective date and class of the medical certificate; the date and result of each initial and recurrent competency test and proficiency and route check, and the type of aircraft flown; flight time in sufficient detail to determine compliance with the flight-time limitations; check-pilot authorization if any; any release for physical or professional disqualification; and the date of completion of the initial and each recurrent phase of training. §135.63(b) requires these records be kept for at least 12 months. An inspector reading a pilot file is checking that every one of those elements is present and current — a missing recurrent-check date is treated as evidence the check may not have happened.

FAA guidance (Order 8900.1, the ramp-inspection job aids) describes what an aviation safety inspector reviews at the aircraft, and it tracks the documents the regulations require to be aboard or available. Expect the inspector to ask the pilot in command for: the airworthiness certificate and registration certificate (required aboard under 14 CFR §91.203); the operating limitations / approved flight manual and current weight-and-balance data; the pilot's airman certificate and current medical certificate and a government photo ID (§61.3); the aircraft maintenance log so previously recorded discrepancies can be checked (§135.65); the required cockpit and emergency checklists and pertinent aeronautical charts (§135.83); and, for multiengine aircraft, the completed load manifest the PIC must carry to the destination (§135.63(c)). A ramp check is a snapshot, not a full audit — but a missing or expired document in any of those categories is the fastest way it escalates.

There is no published fixed interval. The FAA oversees Part 135 certificate holders through the Safety Assurance System (SAS), a risk-based, continuous-surveillance model — the frequency and depth of inspections are driven by the operator's size, complexity, history, and risk indicators, not a calendar rule like 'every 12 months.' Ramp inspections in particular are unannounced and can happen any time an inspector encounters your aircraft. Because you cannot predict the timing, the only durable posture is continuous readiness: every record current, complete, and retrievable on demand rather than assembled in a scramble before an announced visit. Anyone who tells you the FAA audits 'every N months' is describing a rule that does not exist in the public surveillance model.

For an aircraft maintained under part 91, the inspector works from 14 CFR §91.417, which requires records of maintenance, preventive maintenance, alteration, and required inspections (with the work description, date of completion, and the signature and certificate number of the person approving return to service), plus the airworthiness-status records: total time in service of the airframe, engines, propellers and rotors; current status of life-limited parts; time since last overhaul of items overhauled on a time basis; current inspection status; current status of applicable airworthiness directives (AD number, method of compliance, recurring-AD next-due); and copies of the FAA Form 337 for each major alteration. For a Part 135 aircraft on an approved continuous-airworthiness maintenance program, the equivalent records live under §135.439. An inspector traces a sample item — an AD, a life-limited part, the last inspection — from the status summary back to the entry that proves compliance.

A ramp inspection looks at the aircraft, crew, and documents present at the moment — it is a point-in-time check of what is aboard and whether the flight in front of the inspector is being conducted legally. A records or base inspection looks at the file room: the §135.63 records kept at your principal business office, your approved manuals and training program, maintenance status records, and your drug-and-alcohol program records. The records an inspector asks for differ in location but overlap heavily in content — the same pilot whose certificate is checked on the ramp has an individual record under §135.63(a)(4) that is examined at base. FileFlo's value is the same in both settings: it makes the underlying record current, complete, and instantly retrievable, whether the inspector is standing at the wing or sitting in your office.

A missing record generally carries the same enforcement exposure as the underlying non-compliance, because the record is the only evidence the FAA can evaluate — an inspector cannot observe a proficiency check or an AD compliance that happened months ago, so the document IS the compliance. Inability to produce a required record on request can itself be a finding and can prompt the inspector to widen the review. The practical standard most well-run operators adopt is to retain records past the regulatory minimum and, more importantly, keep them retrievable on demand: a record that exists in a box in a hangar you cannot produce during the visit is, for enforcement purposes, treated as if it does not exist. This is precisely the gap a compliance document system closes.

Yes — and because ramp inspections are unannounced and base inspections are risk-driven rather than scheduled, preparation has to be continuous rather than last-minute. The most effective approach is to treat the ranked Top 12 below as a standing readiness list: confirm each category exists, is current, and can be pulled in seconds. A mock audit — having someone walk your file room the way an inspector would, requesting records at random and timing how long they take to produce — surfaces the gaps before the FAA does. FileFlo is the document layer that makes this real: it classifies and organizes your compliance records, flags expirations before they bite, and lets you produce any required record on demand. It does not conduct the audit, represent you to the FAA, or provide legal advice — it makes sure the proof is there when someone asks.