FAA Federal Aviation Regulations (FARS, 14 CFR)

(a) Each certificate holder shall report the occurrence or detection of each failure, malfunction, or defect, in a form and manner prescribed by the Administrator.

(b) The report must be made within 72 hours to the FAA Flight Standards district office in whose area the certificate holder has its principal operations base. The procedures to be used in complying with this section must be made a part of the manual procedures required by §125.73(f).