{"id":32267544,"date":"2026-11-11T12:03:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fsdo-aviation-safety-inspector-faa-flight-standards-explained\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T12:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T11:05:57","slug":"fsdo-aviation-safety-inspector-faa-flight-standards-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/fsdo-aviation-safety-inspector-faa-flight-standards-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"FSDO and Aviation Safety Inspectors: Who the FAA Sends to Your Hangar"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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In <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/faa-major-vs-minor-alteration-repair-form-337-field-approval\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our guide to major and minor alterations<\/a>, the advice for a major repair with no approved data behind it was to contact a local FAA office and speak to an aviation safety inspector. Lovely. Which office? Who picks up? And is the person on the other end there to help you, or to write you up?<\/p>\n<p>The answers live in a four-letter acronym that most pilots learn the way they learn about carburettor icing: suddenly, and slightly too late. The Flight Standards District Office, or FSDO, is where the FAA keeps the people who certify, inspect, investigate and, when they must, enforce. Its aviation safety inspectors are the FAA employees who might actually walk into your hangar.<\/p>\n<p>So here is the field guide: what an FSDO does, how many there are after the 2017 shake-up of Flight Standards, what an aviation safety inspector can sign, how that differs from the private designees who do much of the FAA's legwork, and why \"can I just ring the FAA?\" has two honest answers.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0 30px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>What an FSDO is:<\/strong> A local office of the FAA Flight Standards Service, aligned under the Office of General Aviation Safety Assurance<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>How many:<\/strong> 76 offices in the FAA's own FSDO locator dataset (updated August 2026); AOPA counted 77 at the 2017 reorganisation<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>The 2017 change:<\/strong> On 20 August 2017 Flight Standards dropped its regional structure for four functional offices<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Who works there:<\/strong> FAA aviation safety inspectors in operations and airworthiness (maintenance and avionics) specialties, among others<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>What they cover:<\/strong> 14 CFR Parts 43, 61, 65, 91, 107, 133, 135, 137, 141, 142, 145, 147 and 183, according to the FAA<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Designees:<\/strong> Private persons and organisations acting for the FAA under 14 CFR Part 183, such as DPEs, DMEs, DARs, DERs and ODA holders<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Airlines:<\/strong> Part 121 carriers are overseen by the separate Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance and its certificate management offices<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Office With the Least Glamorous Name in Aviation<\/h2>\n\n<p>An FSDO is the local branch of the FAA's Flight Standards Service, the part of the agency that, in its own words, sets the standards for certification and oversight of airmen, air operators, air agencies and designees. Flight Standards lists its day job as certification, inspection, surveillance, investigation and enforcement. The FSDO is where that job meets people with grease under their fingernails.<\/p>\n\n<p>The FAA's own list of reasons to contact an FSDO reads like the plot of every hangar story ever told: low-flying aircraft, accident reporting, aircraft maintenance, aircraft permits, airmen certification for pilots, mechanics, repairmen, dispatchers and parachute riggers, certification and modification issues, enforcement, and illegal air charter. If it involves a general aviation aircraft, a certificate or a complaint, it probably lands on an FSDO desk.<\/p>\n\n<p>The regulatory reach is just as wide. According to the FAA's Office of General Aviation Safety Assurance, its FSDOs are responsible for certification, oversight and management under 14 CFR Parts 43, 61, 65, 91, 107, 133, 135, 137, 141, 142, 145, 147 and 183. Translated: maintenance, pilots, mechanics, general operating rules, drones, external loads, charter, agricultural flying, flight schools, training centres, repair stations, maintenance schools and the designees themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/faa-flight-standards-structure-fsdo-diagram.jpg\" alt=\"Diagram of the FAA Flight Standards Service structure showing four offices, with FSDOs under General Aviation Safety Assurance\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Four offices, one of which owns the FSDOs. Diagram: Afterburner, based on FAA Flight Standards office pages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How Many FSDOs Are There?<\/h2>\n\n<p>The FAA does not print a headline number on its FSDO page, but its own \"Find your FSDO\" locator dataset, last updated in August 2026, contains 76 offices. They run from Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau to Honolulu and San Juan, and each one covers a defined geographic patch that can span one or more states or parts of states. When AOPA reported the 2017 reorganisation, it counted 77, so the network has barely moved in a decade.<\/p>\n\n<p>What did move was everything above the offices. Until 2017 Flight Standards was organised by region. Under what the FAA called the Future of Flight Standards initiative, it abolished the regional offices and created four functional organisations: Air Carrier Safety Assurance, General Aviation Safety Assurance, Safety Standards and Foundational Business. The switch happened on 20 August 2017, and the man in charge was at pains to tell the industry it would hardly notice.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;We want to stress that this realignment should be transparent to you. No certificates are moving, and you will continue to interact with the FAA employees who currently manage your certificate.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>John S. Duncan<\/strong> &mdash; Executive Director, FAA Flight Standards Service, letter to external stakeholders, 21 August 2017<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Nine years on, the FAA's Flight Standards page still lists four offices, though the fourth is now called the Office of Safety and Business Integration. The FSDOs sit under General Aviation Safety Assurance, which the FAA says manages a network of nine functional divisions, the FSDOs, the Part 142 Certificate Management Office and several support offices. Airlines flying under Part 121 are a separate world, handled by Air Carrier Safety Assurance through certificate management offices.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/faa-flight-standards-service-locations-map-2017.jpg\" alt=\"FAA Flight Standards Service locations map from August 2017, colour-coded by the four functional offices\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The FAA's own map of Flight Standards locations on the day of the 2017 switch. Dark blue dots are General Aviation Safety Assurance offices. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/about\/office_org\/headquarters_offices\/avs\/offices\/afx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service locations poster (US Government work, public domain)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Meet the Aviation Safety Inspector<\/h2>\n\n<p>An aviation safety inspector, or ASI, is an FAA employee in the 1825 job series. The FAA describes the role as developing, administering or enforcing regulations and standards on civil aviation safety: the airworthiness of aircraft and their systems, the competence of pilots, mechanics and other airmen, and the safety of facilities, equipment and procedures. In Flight Standards the specialties are operations, airworthiness maintenance and airworthiness avionics; manufacturing inspectors work for the separate Aircraft Certification Service.<\/p>\n\n<p>Here is the bit that surprises people. The inspector who asks to see your logbook is not a clerk with a clipboard. To be hired as a general aviation operations ASI, the FAA requires a flight instructor certificate with single-engine, multi-engine and instrument airplane ratings, at least 200 hours of flight instruction given, a minimum of 1,500 total flight hours and a valid second-class medical. In other words, the inspector has often spent more hours teaching in the right seat than many owners have spent flying at all.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hlAFUO1S0Xs\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>What can an inspector actually approve? Plenty. An ASI certificates and oversees flight schools, repair stations and charter operators, investigates accidents and complaints, and runs enforcement. For a major repair or alteration with no approved data, an inspector who holds field approval authority can approve the data for that one aircraft. That is the phone call our Form 337 article sent you to make.<\/p>\n\n<p>There are hard limits, though. The FAA's advisory circular on data approval says the field approval route is not available for every major repair or alteration, and a major change to type design needs a supplemental type certificate under 14 CFR 21.113(a). No amount of charm at the FSDO front desk turns a field approval into an STC.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Inspector or Designee? The Difference That Confuses Everyone<\/h2>\n\n<p>Many of the people who act \"for the FAA\" are not FAA employees at all. The FAA defines designees as individuals and organisations in the aviation industry authorised to conduct examinations, perform tests and issue approvals and certificates on its behalf. The legal machinery is 14 CFR Part 183, which opens by describing the designation of private persons as representatives of the Administrator.<\/p>\n\n<p>The alphabet is long. A Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) conducts your checkride under the general supervision of the local Flight Standards inspector. A Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME) tests would-be mechanics. A Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) works in maintenance as authorised by Flight Standards, or in manufacturing and engineering as authorised by Aircraft Certification, and the rule explicitly lets a DAR charge a fee. A Designated Engineering Representative (DER) approves engineering data within one of nine categories of designation, and an Organization Designation Authorization lets a whole company act for the FAA. Afterburner has a full guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/faa-designees-der-dar-oda-aircraft-certification-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the designee system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Any local Flight Standards Inspector may select a pilot examiner, technical personnel examiner, or a designated aircraft maintenance inspector whenever he determines there is a need for one.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>14 CFR 183.11(b)<\/strong> &mdash; Representatives of the Administrator, selection of designees<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>That sentence is the \"aha\" of the whole system. The inspector is the FAA employee; the designee is the private multiplier the inspector oversees. It is also why a system that is <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dpe-shortage-nobody-talks-about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chronically short of examiners<\/a> can leave students waiting for checkrides: the FAA delegates much of the volume work, and the inspectors keep the oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/faa-inspector-vs-designee-who-signs-what-diagram.jpg\" alt=\"Table comparing an FAA aviation safety inspector with DPE, DME, DAR-T, DER and ODA designees\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Inspector or designee: who signs what, and under which rule. Diagram: Afterburner, based on 14 CFR Part 183<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The two groups learn from the same playbook. When the FAA publishes outreach on new policy, it is often aimed at inspectors and designees at once, as with this briefing on risk assessments for experimental aircraft operating limitations, made for aviation safety inspectors, designees and ODA unit members.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XjE08GRL4m8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">So Can You Just Ring the FAA?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Yes. Every FSDO publishes a phone number and email address, and the FAA actively tells people to contact one for everything from accident reports to modification questions. The Columbus FSDO, to pick one, keeps office hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. There is also the national line, 866-TELL-FAA. What you should not do is turn up unannounced: Columbus and Portland both state that office visits are by appointment only.<\/p>\n\n<p>And also no, in three ways. You do not choose your inspector, because your FSDO is set by geography. Many things you want are not done by inspectors at all: your checkride, for example, may well be with a designated pilot examiner rather than an inspector. And the person helping you with a modification is the same agency that enforces the rules, which is exactly why some owners never call.<\/p>\n\n<p>That last fear is less justified than hangar folklore suggests. Since 2015 the FAA has run what it now calls its Compliance Program, renamed from the Compliance Philosophy in October 2018. The FAA says that if you are qualified and both willing and able to cooperate, an unintentional deviation will generally be fixed with a Compliance Action such as counselling or extra training. Intentional or reckless behaviour still gets the full enforcement treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;A Compliance Action is not a legal adjudication, nor does it constitute a finding of violation.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Federal Aviation Administration<\/strong> &mdash; Compliance Program, faa.gov<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The practical rule is simple: call early. Ring the FSDO before the panel comes out, not after the new wiring is in, and treat the inspector as the person who can tell you which door to knock on, whether it opens onto a field approval, a designee or an STC. The FAA is, in the end, recruiting these people at its own stand at Oshkosh. Better to meet one there than across an enforcement file.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rpaaaCObHb0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Which brings us back to that cliffhanger. \"Contact a local FAA office\" means your FSDO. \"Speak with an ASI\" means a seasoned pilot or mechanic on the FAA payroll, with a designee network behind them and an office that is one of 76. Now you know who is coming to the hangar.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Sources: FAA Flight Standards Service, FAA Office of General Aviation Safety Assurance, FAA Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance, FAA InFO 17010, FAA Flight Standards realignment letter to stakeholders (August 2017), FAA FSDO locator dataset, FAA Aviation Careers, FAA Designees and Delegations, FAA Compliance Program, 14 CFR Part 183, FAA AC 43-210A, AOPA, EAA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mf-photo-credits\" data-no-translation style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin:6px 0 18px\">Header photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:FAA_office_-_Hillsboro,_Oregon.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FAA office - Hillsboro, Oregon<\/a> by M.O. Stevens, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What does a Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) do?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A Flight Standards District Office is a local FAA Flight Standards office. It handles certification and oversight of general aviation pilots, mechanics, flight schools, repair stations and charter operators, takes accident reports and complaints about low-flying aircraft, deals with aircraft permits and modification questions, and enforces the regulations. Its technical staff include FAA aviation safety inspectors.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many FSDO offices does the FAA have?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The FAA's own Find your FSDO locator dataset, updated in August 2026, lists 76 Flight Standards District Offices, from Alaska and Hawaii to Puerto Rico. Each covers a defined geographic area of one or more states or parts of states. AOPA counted 77 FSDOs when Flight Standards was reorganised in 2017.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How was FAA Flight Standards reorganised in 2017?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On 20 August 2017 the FAA Flight Standards Service dropped its regional structure and created four functional offices: Air Carrier Safety Assurance, General Aviation Safety Assurance, Safety Standards and Foundational Business. FSDOs were aligned under General Aviation Safety Assurance. The fourth office is now listed as the Office of Safety and Business Integration.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is an FAA aviation safety inspector?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">An FAA aviation safety inspector, or ASI, is an FAA employee who develops, administers or enforces civil aviation safety standards. In Flight Standards the specialties are operations, airworthiness maintenance and airworthiness avionics. Applicants for general aviation operations inspector posts must hold a flight instructor certificate, at least 1,500 total flight hours and 200 hours of instruction given.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the difference between an FAA inspector and an FAA designee?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">An aviation safety inspector is an FAA employee. A designee, such as a DPE, DME, DAR or DER, is a private person, or an organisation holding an ODA, authorised under 14 CFR Part 183 to examine, test or approve on the FAA's behalf. Designees work under FAA supervision, and a DAR may charge a fee.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can an FSDO inspector approve a major alteration?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">An FSDO aviation safety inspector who holds field approval authority can approve data for a major repair or major alteration on a single aircraft. The field approval route is not available for every job, and a major alteration that is a major change to type design needs a supplemental type certificate under 14 CFR 21.113(a).<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can I contact my local FSDO directly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Every FSDO publishes a phone number and email address, and the FAA encourages contact for accidents, maintenance, certification and modification questions. Your FSDO is set by your geographic area, office visits are typically by appointment only, and many tasks such as checkrides are carried out by designees rather than inspectors.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What does a Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) do?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A Flight Standards District Office is a local FAA Flight Standards office. 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Your FSDO is set by your geographic area, office visits are typically by appointment only, and many tasks such as checkrides are carried out by designees rather than inspectors.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/faa-major-vs-minor-alteration-repair-form-337-field-approval\/\">FAA Major vs Minor Alteration: The Decision Before Form 337<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/faa-designees-der-dar-oda-aircraft-certification-explained\/\">FAA Designees: DER, DAR and Who Really Signs Off an Aircraft<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/annual-vs-100-hour-inspection-faa-inspection-authorization\/\">FAA Annual vs 100-Hour Inspection: Why Only an IA Can Sign<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dpe-shortage-nobody-talks-about\/\">The DPE Shortage Nobody Talks About<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<!--mfcred1-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What a Flight Standards District Office does, how many the FAA runs after the 2017 reorganisation, what an aviation safety inspector can sign, and how inspectors differ from designees.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":32267466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32267544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FSDO and Aviation Safety Inspectors Explained | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta 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