Preflight Inspection Checklist: 91.103, IMSAFE, PAVE And The Walkaround

14 CFR 91.103 requires the pilot in command to become familiar with all available information concerning the flight. For every flight that includes runway lengths at airports of intended use and takeoff and landing distance data from the approved flight manual. For IFR flights and any flight not in the vicinity of an airport it adds weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives if the flight cannot be completed, and known traffic delays from ATC.

IMSAFE stands for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue and Emotion. It is the personal checklist the FAA teaches in the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge for deciding whether you are fit to fly. Run it before every flight, on the ground. Older materials sometimes use Eating in place of Emotion. Either way, a no on any item is a reason to postpone, and the regulation on alcohol, 14 CFR 91.17, sets an 8-hour minimum.

PAVE stands for Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment and External pressures. It is the FAA’s framework for identifying the risks of a particular flight before you go. Pilot covers health, currency and experience. Aircraft covers airworthiness, equipment, fuel and performance. Environment covers weather, terrain, airspace and the airport. External pressures covers schedules and people waiting, which are often what push pilots into flights they should not make.

A walkaround of a single-engine trainer usually takes 15 to 30 minutes for a student, getting quicker with practice, and longer before the first flight of the day or when anything looks wrong. Briefing weather, NOTAMs and performance under 91.103 takes additional time before you walk out. Do not rush it to save time on a rented airplane. Our lessons at Van Nuys allow time for a full preflight on the ramp.

Pilots sample fuel to find water, sediment and the wrong grade of fuel before the engine does. Water can condense in partly full tanks or arrive from a contaminated supply, and because it is heavier than fuel it collects at the sumps. A sample also shows the color: 100LL avgas is blue. The Airplane Flying Handbook calls for draining each sump listed in the POH, and many pilots do it before every flight and after each refueling.

The regulations require the result rather than a specific walkaround. 14 CFR 91.7 makes the pilot in command responsible for determining that the aircraft is in condition for safe flight, 91.103 requires preflight action, and 91.9 requires compliance with the flight manual, which contains the manufacturer’s preflight checklist. In practice a pilot cannot meet those duties without inspecting the airplane, and examiners test the preflight on every practical test.

Use a generic checklist to learn the logic, but fly with the checklist from the POH or approved flight manual for the aircraft you are flying. Items, limits and order differ between types and even between models of the same type: oil quantities, fuel drains, flap checks and electrical tests all vary. The walkaround on this page is a general outline for a piston trainer, and your instructor will teach the checklist for your airplane.

Anything that makes the airplane unairworthy or that you cannot explain should stop the flight until someone qualified looks at it. Common examples are water that keeps appearing in fuel samples, oil below the POH minimum, a damaged propeller, a flat or worn tire, a control surface that binds, missing documents or an inoperative instrument the flight requires. Report it, note it, and do not fly until it is resolved.