If you get ramp-checked, the FAA inspector will ask for three personal documents and four aircraft documents. On you or within reach in the aircraft: your pilot certificate, a current medical certificate or BasicMed paperwork, and a government-issued photo ID. In the aircraft: the airworthiness certificate, the registration certificate, the approved flight manual or operating limitations, and current weight and balance data. Missing any one of these is enough to ground the flight, so the required documents for an FAA ramp check are worth knowing cold before an inspector ever walks up.
The Three Personal Documents You Must Have
Federal regulation requires you to have all three in your physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft whenever you exercise pilot privileges.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.3 – Requirement for Certificates, Ratings, Privileges, and Authorizations
Pilot Certificate
Your plastic pilot certificate — student, private, commercial, or ATP — must be on you or within reach in the aircraft. A temporary certificate issued through the FAA’s online system counts, but you still need the physical printout or digital version accessible during flight.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.3 – Requirement for Certificates, Ratings, Privileges, and Authorizations
Medical Certificate or BasicMed Documentation
You need either a current FAA medical certificate issued under Part 67 or, if you qualify, documentation showing you meet BasicMed requirements under Part 68. BasicMed pilots must keep a certification of completion from the online medical education course in their logbook, along with the comprehensive medical examination form signed by their physician.2eCFR. 14 CFR Part 68 – Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft The regulation explicitly lists “documents establishing alternative medical qualification under part 68” alongside traditional medical certificates as items you must present upon FAA request.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.3 – Requirement for Certificates, Ratings, Privileges, and Authorizations
Government-Issued Photo ID
Acceptable forms include a state driver’s license, U.S. passport, military ID card, or an airport security credential granting unescorted access to secured areas. The regulation also allows any other form the Administrator finds acceptable, but sticking to the listed options avoids any debate on the ramp.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.3 – Requirement for Certificates, Ratings, Privileges, and Authorizations
The Aircraft Documents: AROW
Pilots use the mnemonic AROW for the four categories of paperwork that must be in the aircraft. Each letter is a document the inspector will want to see.
- Airworthiness certificate. This must be displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so it is legible to passengers or crew, not tucked into a folder somewhere.3eCFR. 14 CFR 91.203 – Civil Aircraft Certifications Required
- Registration certificate. A current U.S. registration issued to the aircraft’s owner must also be aboard. If you recently purchased the aircraft, the second copy of the registration application satisfies this requirement temporarily.3eCFR. 14 CFR 91.203 – Civil Aircraft Certifications Required
- Operating limitations. The current, approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual, or equivalent approved manual material, markings, and placards, must be available in the aircraft. This document spells out speeds, load limits, and approved maneuvers for your specific airframe.4eCFR. 14 CFR 91.9 – Civil Aircraft Flight Manual, Marking, and Placard Requirements
- Weight and balance data. Current weight and balance information for your aircraft must be accessible. This data is typically part of the flight manual or a separate supplement updated after any equipment changes or modifications.
One item conspicuously absent from AROW: the FCC radio station license. For flights that stay within the United States with no international communications, your aircraft radio station is licensed by rule and no individual FCC license is required. The moment you fly internationally or make international radio communications, you need an individual station license issued by the FCC.5eCFR. 47 CFR 87.18 – Station License Required
Do You Have to Carry Your Logbook?
Here is where many pilots get confused. For most operations you do not need to carry your personal pilot logbook in the aircraft. The regulation requires you to present your logbook upon a “reasonable request” from the FAA, but that does not mean it must be with you on every flight. The inspector can ask to see it later, and you can provide it within a reasonable timeframe.6eCFR. 14 CFR 61.51 – Pilot Logbooks
The exceptions matter. Student pilots must carry their logbook on all solo cross-country flights. Sport pilots must carry theirs, or other evidence of required instructor endorsements, on every flight. Recreational pilots need their logbook for specific solo operations like flights beyond 50 nautical miles from the training airport or flights into airspace requiring ATC communication.6eCFR. 14 CFR 61.51 – Pilot Logbooks
Aircraft maintenance records — the airframe and engine logbooks — follow a similar principle. The registered owner or operator must keep them and make them available for FAA inspection, but no regulation requires storing them aboard for routine flights. Many owners keep the originals at home or in a hangar safe and carry copies or digital backups. The one exception: if a fuel tank has been installed in a passenger or baggage compartment, a copy of FAA Form 337 documenting that modification must stay aboard the aircraft.7eCFR. 14 CFR 91.417 – Maintenance Records
Inoperative Equipment Placards
Inspectors pay close attention to whether every instrument and piece of equipment in the cockpit is functional, or properly dealt with if it isn’t. If your aircraft does not operate under an approved Minimum Equipment List with a Letter of Authorization from your local Flight Standards office, you fall under the default rules.8eCFR. 14 CFR 91.213 – Inoperative Instruments and Equipment
Under those default rules, an inoperative instrument or piece of equipment must either be physically removed, with the cockpit control placarded and the work recorded in the maintenance log, or deactivated and placarded “Inoperative.” In both cases, someone certificated to make the determination — either a pilot rated under Part 61 or a certificated mechanic — must confirm the item does not create a hazard.9eCFR. 14 CFR 91.213 – Inoperative Instruments and Equipment The item also cannot be one that is required for the type of flight you’re conducting. VFR day flight, for example, requires a specific set of instruments including an airspeed indicator, altimeter, magnetic compass, tachometer, fuel gauges, and an ELT, among others.10eCFR. 14 CFR 91.205 – Powered Civil Aircraft With Standard US Airworthiness Certificates Instrument and Equipment Requirements An inspector who sees a broken gauge without the proper placard will flag it immediately.
Verify the Inspector Before You Hand Anything Over
Every Aviation Safety Inspector carries FAA Form 110A, officially titled “Aviation Safety Inspector’s Credential.” This is the document that proves the person on your ramp actually has federal authority to conduct the inspection. If someone approaches you claiming to be an FAA inspector, ask to see Form 110A before handing over anything.11eCFR. 14 CFR Part 153 Subpart A – Aviation Safety Inspector Access
An inspector bearing Form 110A has broad access rights at any public-use airport, including secured areas, without needing separate airport-issued credentials.11eCFR. 14 CFR Part 153 Subpart A – Aviation Safety Inspector Access For Part 91 general aviation operations, the inspector is not permitted to open or board your aircraft without your knowledge and consent. FAA Order 8900.1 is explicit on that point.12Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Order 8900.1 – Conduct a Part 91 Ramp Inspection The rules are different for Part 121 airline operations, where the pilot in command must grant the inspector free and uninterrupted access to the flight deck upon presentation of Form 110A.13eCFR. 14 CFR 121.548 – Aviation Safety Inspectors Credentials Admission to Pilots Compartment
What Happens If You’re Missing a Document
Presenting your certificates, medical documentation, and photo ID on request from the FAA Administrator or their representative is a legal obligation, not a courtesy.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.3 – Requirement for Certificates, Ratings, Privileges, and Authorizations If you can’t produce something required, the flight isn’t going anywhere until the problem is resolved.
For minor or unintentional deviations — a lapsed inspection, a missing placard, a procedural mistake — the FAA’s preferred approach since 2015 has been “compliance action” rather than formal enforcement. Under this philosophy, deviations caused by simple mistakes, lack of understanding, or diminished skills are most effectively corrected through root cause analysis, training, or procedure improvements rather than punishment.14Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Order 8000.373C – Federal Aviation Administration Compliance Program The inspector works with you to fix the problem and documents that you’ve done so. No fine, no mark on your record beyond the corrective action itself.
More serious findings, or patterns of repeated non-compliance, can result in a Letter of Investigation, which formally notifies you that the FAA is examining a potential violation. You have the right to respond in writing, but you are not required to, and declining to respond cannot be held against you.15GovInfo. Pilots Bill of Rights, Public Law 112-153 Formal legal enforcement is reserved for intentional or reckless deviations, situations posing an unacceptable safety risk, repeated violations, or a refusal to take corrective measures.14Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Order 8000.373C – Federal Aviation Administration Compliance Program Certificate actions such as suspension or revocation are generally more consequential to a pilot’s career than any dollar penalty, and results are mailed to the address on file with the FAA. Keep your airman records current.