Definition
In aviation maintenance, to remove a serviceable part from one aircraft, engine, or component in order to install it on another aircraft that needs it, typically when a new replacement part is unavailable or delayed. The aircraft from which the part is taken becomes temporarily unserviceable until a replacement is fitted.
Plain English
Taking a working part off one aircraft so you can put it on another aircraft that needs it, usually because a new part isn't available right away.
Context Anchor
Used in aircraft maintenance, especially when a needed replacement part is not immediately available from supply.
Derivation
From the older meaning of 'cannibal,' something that consumes its own kind. In maintenance the idea is the same: one aircraft is 'consumed' (stripped of a part) to keep another flying. Knowing this makes the term feel less strange when you first encounter it.
Why Pilots Care
A cannibalized aircraft is not airworthy until the donor part is replaced. Pilots and maintenance personnel need to track which aircraft are down for parts and ensure cannibalization is properly documented in the maintenance records before any flight.
Intuition Check
Cannibalize does not mean destroy the aircraft for scrap. Here it means removing a usable part from one aircraft or component to repair another one.
Example Sentence 1
With the replacement magneto on backorder for two weeks, the shop had to cannibalize one from the hangar's spare trainer to keep the charter aircraft flying.
Example Sentence 2
During the parts shortage, the maintenance team cannibalized several avionics units to keep the rest of the fleet operational.