Aviation Inspectors
Inspect aircraft, maintenance procedures, air navigational aids, air traffic controls, and communications equipment to ensure conformance with Federal safety regulations.
Also Known As:
Aircraft Inspector
Aircraft Quality Control Inspector (Aircraft QC Inspector)
Airworthiness Safety Inspector
Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI)
Avionics Safety Inspector
Inspector
Manufacturing Aviation Safety Inspector (Manufacturing ASI)
Quality Control Inspector (QC Inspector)
Quality Inspector
RTS Inspector (Return to Service Inspector)
Wages
Annual wages for Aviation Inspectors in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
30,800
4% Change From 2023
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Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Start aircraft and observe gauges, meters, and other instruments to detect evidence of malfunctions.
- Examine landing gear, tires, and exteriors of fuselage, wings, and engines for evidence of damage or corrosion and the need for repairs.
- Start aircraft and observe gauges, meters, and other instruments to detect evidence of malfunctions.
- Conduct flight test programs to test equipment, instruments, and systems under a variety of conditions, using both manual and automatic controls.
- Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment.
- Recommend changes in rules, policies, standards, and regulations, based on knowledge of operating conditions, aircraft improvements, and other factors.
- Recommend replacement, repair, or modification of aircraft equipment.
- Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes.
- Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.
- Start aircraft and observe gauges, meters, and other instruments to detect evidence of malfunctions.
- Approve or deny issuance of certificates of airworthiness.
- Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports.
- Inspect new, repaired, or modified aircraft to identify damage or defects and to assess airworthiness and conformance to standards, using checklists, hand tools, and test instruments.
- Examine aircraft access plates and doors for security.
- Inspect work of aircraft mechanics performing maintenance, modification, or repair and overhaul of aircraft and aircraft mechanical systems to ensure adherence to standards and procedures.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")