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By the end of this guide, you will have filed aircraft discrepancies, deferred items under the MEL, recorded corrective actions, and closed squawks to maintain airworthiness records.
The Operations module must be enabled for your workspace. You also need the appropriate operations permissions. Contact your workspace administrator if you cannot access these features.
You need the maintenance_ops.read permission to view discrepancies and maintenance_ops.update to create, defer, or resolve them.

Prerequisites

  • Aircraft must be registered in the fleet under Ops > Aircraft before a discrepancy can be filed against a tail number.
  • Your operation’s MEL (derived from the manufacturer’s MMEL) should be on file so that MEL references are meaningful when deferring items.
Open the Operations sidebar and click Discrepancies under the Fleet group. Breadcrumb path: Ops > Discrepancies The page loads with a stat-badged tab row and a searchable table of all discrepancies in your workspace.

Understand the status tabs

The four tabs across the top of the page filter the table and show a running count for each category: Click any tab to filter the table to that status. The count badge on each tab updates live as you add or resolve items.

Read the discrepancy table

Each row in the table represents a single write-up: Use the search field above the table to filter by description text or aircraft registration. The search is case-insensitive and updates as you type.

Open the discrepancy detail page

Click any row in the discrepancy table to open the discrepancy detail page (Ops > Discrepancies > [ID]). The detail page shows:
  • Full write-up text, severity, and reporting information
  • Current status with the full status history
  • MEL reference and deferral justification (if deferred)
  • Corrective action and resolution details (if resolved)
  • Direct action buttons: Resolve, Defer, and Reopen
Use the detail page for all status transitions. The list view is read-only.

File a new discrepancy

Grounding-severity discrepancies automatically surface on the Fleet Health dashboard’s Discrepancy Summary donut in dark red. The Fleet Health Open Squawks KPI increments for every Open and Deferred discrepancy across the fleet.

Defer a discrepancy under the MEL

Deferral is the process of formally documenting that a non-critical fault will remain unrepaired for a defined period while the aircraft continues in service — allowable under 14 CFR 135.179 when the item appears in your approved MEL.
Deferral does not clear the discrepancy. The underlying fault must be tracked to resolution within the MEL’s allowable interval. Ensure the aircraft maintenance record is updated with the deferral entry and the placard requirements per 14 CFR Part 43.9 are satisfied before the aircraft departs.

Resolve a discrepancy

Resolution records the corrective action taken and closes the write-up.

How discrepancies affect aircraft dispatch

Open discrepancy severity determines whether an aircraft can be dispatched: The Open Squawks column on the Aircraft list page shows each aircraft’s open discrepancy count. A count greater than zero is highlighted in red as a visual dispatch flag. Dispatchers and pilots should review open squawks as part of the standard pre-flight release process per 14 CFR Part 135 Subpart J.

Fleet Health integration

The Fleet Health dashboard (Ops > Fleet Health) aggregates discrepancy data into three summary views:
  • Open Squawks KPI card — Total count of Open, Deferred, and In Progress discrepancies across the entire fleet. The card turns red when the count is greater than zero.
  • Discrepancy Summary donut — Breaks open squawks down by severity (Minor, Major, Critical, Grounding). Use this to identify whether open items are routine or require immediate maintenance intervention.
  • Open Discrepancies table — Lists the 20 oldest unresolved discrepancies sorted by report date. Click any row to navigate directly to the Discrepancies page.
Discrepancy records are also visible in the Overview and Maintenance tabs of the individual aircraft detail page (Ops > Aircraft > [tail number]).
PlaneConnection discrepancy records support but do not replace the physical aircraft maintenance records required under 14 CFR Part 43. Always ensure the aircraft logbook or maintenance record reflects every resolved or deferred discrepancy before releasing the aircraft for flight.

Fleet Health Dashboard

Monitor open squawk counts, discrepancy severity distribution, and fleet availability from a single maintenance overview screen.

Track Due Items

Schedule-based and hours-based maintenance items that work alongside discrepancy write-ups in the overall airworthiness picture.

Manage Aircraft

Register aircraft, set initial hours and cycles, and manage operational statuses that reflect discrepancy-driven groundings.

Aircraft Statuses

How Open, Deferred, and Grounding discrepancies map to aircraft dispatch availability status.
Last modified on April 11, 2026