Federal Aviation Regulation
When we talk about aviation maintenance, we
speak of repairs, alterations and the act of
preserving an aircraft in its
original airworthy condition. An airworthiness
certificate is given to an
aircraft after countless hours of design, research
and testing. And in order
to keep this certificate valid; an aircraft must be
maintained in accordance
with a certain specification. These specifications are
brought to us by the
Federal Aviation Administration. The Federal Aviation
Regulation part
that spells out these rules is found in part 43. These acts are
performed to
prevent harm to pilots, passengers, and even innocent bystander
that may
become involved in an incident due to improper maintenance. As
maintenance
managers, we must understand these implications that must be
followed, so
that we may ensure that our facility is performing to the standards
set upon
us by the FAA. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 allowed for the
regulation of
air commerce in such manner as to best promote its development and
safety
(Adamski and Doyle 4-8). This brought about a rulemaking process to
insure
that all aspects of aviation could be regulated in a way as to
provide
maximum safety to all. This was the initial birth of 14 CFR 43, or
Part 43 of
the FAR's which is ironically titled Maintenance, Preventive
Maintenance,
Rebuilding, and Alteration (Federal Aviation Regulations
[FAR], VII, 1997). This
part has been primarily written for individuals or
repair facilities that may be
performing some sort of maintenance, preventive
maintenance, rebuilding and or
alterations. It refers to a number of
qualified individuals that include holders
of mechanic, repairman, air
carrier, or even a pilot's certificate, that may
perform an array of the
procedures listed in this part. So when it comes down to
it, we as
maintenance managers must know and live by FAR prt. 43 in order for
our
employees to work and perform in a legal and safe manor. As the
title
implies, this part of the Federal Aviation Regulations prescribes rules
of
governing the maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and
alteration of
any aircraft having a U.S. airworthiness certificate; any
foreign-registered
aircraft used to carry mail under pt.121, 127 or 135; and
airframe, aircraft
engines, propellers, appliances, and components of such
aircraft. This is
exclusive of aircraft holding an experimental airworthiness
certificate, unless
the aircraft was previously issued a different kind of
certificate (FAR, 1998,
p.11). So if we were working as a manager in the
U.S., this part would
definitely apply to our facility, which repairs and
maintains aircraft found in
this category. Part 43 also identifies persons
that are authorized to perform
and return an aircraft, airframe, aircraft
engines, propellers, appliances, or
component parts for return to service
after maintenance, preventive maintenance,
rebuilding, or alteration. "The
approval for return to service will be made
in accordance with FAR
43.9(a)(5). A&P mechanics are authorized to conduct
and approve for
return to service aircraft inspected in accordance with the
owner or
operator's program under a number of options. It can be done
under
performance rules for inspection to which determines whether an
aircraft meets
all requirements for airworthiness. Or by an inspection
program under FAR 43
App. D. All work must be done in accordance with
"airworthiness
limitations" (King 38). This means that a manager must know
who is
performing the prescribed work in his shop, and make sure that any
work
completed is done in a specific, approved fashion. A manager must know
what
types of inspections are being performed to aircraft in his/her
shop.
Individuals holding the appropriately rated certificate can only
perform those
inspections in which they are allowed to do. Managers must be
fully aware of
what part of the FAR's their shop is performing inspections
under. Different
parts of the regulation require adherence to specific rules
found, but not
specific to Part 43. If an aircraft comes in for an annual
inspection, the
manager must have an IA available to do the inspection, but
if the inspection is
a 100-hour, a certified mechanic is only needed in order
to return the aircraft
to service. A manager must realize that someone not
certified cannot work under
a certified mechanic when doing a 100-hour
inspection. So the mechanics helper
cannot perform the inspection during
times of great workloads. This puts a
constraint on the manager to hire and
keep the required individuals needed for
the type of inspections being
performed at his/her facility. Next, the part goes
into record keeping
aspects after performing the above procedures. Great detail
is taken in
explaining and recording the work in order to prevent confusion or
problems
in record keeping. A manager's job would be to make sure that an
employee is
adhering to the proper procedures in signing off the work performed.
But
now a new rule has been proposed to the FAA from the Aviation
Rulemaking
Advisory Committee that takes the burden off the backs of a
technicians, and
managers, and rather holds an owner/operator accountable for
any such entries
similar to the current maintenance falsification rule in FAR
43.12 (Hertzlerm,
1997, p.1). Appendix A of this section explains the
exact examples of what is
meant by major alterations, major repairs, and
preventive maintenance for both
the airframe and powerplant. In this case,
managers must be fully aware of this
section. Similar to inspections,
different individuals may sign an aircraft back
to an airworthy condition
after a repair or alteration. The first thing that
must be done is to figure
out if a repair or alteration is major or minor. When
a job is delegated
between the two, the manager can figure out whether or not
he/she will need
specific individuals to return the aircraft back to service. A
manager must
be prepared and know the procedures of a repair before it comes
into the
shop. A considerable difference in paper work must be accomplished
dependent
on the repair or alteration. We must understand that a major repair
or
alteration takes an approval of the FAA in order to be returned to service
after
the repair or alteration has been completed. This is where a manager
must be as
cooperative to the local FAA inspector so that when the time
comes, headaches
may be eliminated when problems exist. Appendix B states the
procedures that
must be followed after the completion of a major repair or
alteration. Again,
the manager must be aware of the appropriate paper work
associated with a
specific repair. There are for like a 337, which must be
completely filled out
and sent to the FAA within a specific time after the
work has been completed.
Again, if procedures aren't followed to a key,
the manager and as well as the
facility is looked down upon by the FAA, and
future problems may exist do to
improper procedures followed. Lastly,
Appendix D states the scope and detail of
items to be included in annual and
100-hour inspection. Though some items in
App. D are not applicable to
all aircraft, it gives a minimum checklist to
follow during the above
inspections. In this case, managers must observe and
make sure that their
technicians are using at least the minimum checklist
provided by this part.
We must understand that different aircraft will be coming
in with different
types of inspection programs, and different systems, but as
long as we
perform the minimum requirements, we stay in the clear. A maintenance
manager
has many tasks to delegate and control. Tasks that must be accomplished
by
these individuals stem from controlling shop practices, dealing
with
customers, and mostly conforming to FAA standards. When something goes
wrong in
the shop due to poor maintenance, the manager must use his/her
skills and
intuition in order to fix and control the situation. But mostly,
the maintenance
manager must adhere to FAA regulation, especially Part 43,
which strictly deals
with the operations that must be performed in the shop,
under a manager's
ultimate authority.
Bibliography
Adamski, A.
J., Doyle, T. J., Aviation Regulatory Process. (3rd ed.).
(1995).
Westland, MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, Inc. FederalAviation
Administration.
(1998). Federal Aviation Regulations and Aeronautical
Information Manuel. New
Castle, WA: ASA. Hertzler, J. V. (1997). New
Record Keeping Requirement.
Aviation Maintenance Regulatory Report.
Retrieved March 10, 1999 from the World
Wide Web:
http://avtrak.com/publications/7-31.htm King, F. H. (1986).
Aviation
Maintenance Management. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois
University Press.