Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com looks at several features of the OTAR Compliant Maintenance Program
(Ref Overseas Territories Aviation Circular – OTAC 39-6)
Maintenance Programme Basis
The Maintenance Programme is usually based upon the MRB report, the TC holder’s maintenance planning document or Chapter 5 of the maintenance manual (the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance programme).
The maintenance programme should be reviewed annually. All supporting documents that have been referenced in the Maintenance Programme should be considered during the annual review.
For aircraft subject to reliability analysis, the Maintenance Programme review should be conducted at intervals commensurate with the reliability programme.
Regular and annual reviews of the maintenance Programme shall as a minimum include the following items:
• Applicable Mandatory Directives
• Applicable evaluations of reliability analysis
• Operational issues
• Maintenance findings
• Type Certificate holder’s recommendations
• Revisions to the MRB report
• Revisions to Chapter 5 Maintenance Manual
• Applicable Supplemental Type Certificate Holders’ revisions to instructions for continued airworthiness
• Aircraft utilisation (hours/cycles etc)
• Changes to aircraft operational utilisation (Type of operation and climatic conditions)
• Review of aircraft and equipment life limits
• Review of Corrosion Prevention Control Programme (CPCP) tasks and findings.
• If the aircraft or its engines are not supported by a manufacturer’s Reliability programme, because the aircraft is below a particular weight category, reviews of pilot reports (PIREPS), component removal, TBO, MEL usage, defect worksheets, MORs or ASRs for trends or patterns should be undertaken.
The person or organisation responsible for the Maintenance Programme should maintain records of all applicable continued airworthiness information.
Following a review of this information, records should be maintained of technical justification supporting the amendment decisions for both inclusion and non-inclusion in the Maintenance Programme.
Human Performance
Consideration should be given to human performance, document format and user defined functions within the maintenance programme such as:
Maintenance Planning:
Data required to effectively produce maintenance inputs including the arrangement of inspections in a manner that avoids conflict of inspection/maintenance activities, typically known as task orientation.
Mandatory Inspection Tasks:
Ensuring maintenance planning personnel have clear visibility of such tasks preventing any unauthorised escalation.
Required Reporting:
Tasks associated with reporting such as SSID are readily identified.
Critical Task Controls:
Ensuring tasks that are critical in nature are planned and allocated in a segregated manner that prevents the possibility of multiple error maintenance.
Maintenance Resource Planning:
Tasks requiring specialised tooling and or techniques are readily identified with reference to required resources
Inspection Standards
The Maintenance Programme should include a paragraph describing in detail, mandatory items such as duplicate inspections (either at main base or at third party maintenance organisations that may be unfamiliar with the format of duplicate inspection philosophy).
In addition, consideration should also be given to assessment of ‘vital points and critical task inspections’.
Task cards
Critical task controls particularly regarding error maintenance can be effectively mitigated.
Task cards can be formatted in such a manner that provides production maintenance planners appropriate indicators and data to make provisions for segregation, appropriate resources and task orientation.
Reliability
A reliability programme should feature in a Maintenance Programme under the following circumstances:
a) The aircraft maintenance programme is based upon MSG-3 logic.
b) The aircraft maintenance programme includes condition monitored components.
c) The aircraft maintenance programme does not contain overhaul time periods for all significant system components.
d) When specified by the manufacturer’s maintenance planning document or MRB.
The type of information collected for analysis should be related to the objectives of the programme and should be such that it enables both an overall broad based assessment of the information to be made and also allow for assessments to be made as to whether any reaction, both to trends and to individual events, is necessary.
The following are examples of the normal prime sources of reliability data :
(1) Pilots’ Reports
(2) Technical Log
(3) Aircraft Maintenance Access Terminal / On-board Maintenance System readouts
(4) Maintenance Worksheets
(5) Workshop Reports
(6) Reports on Functional Checks
(7) Reports on Special Inspections
(8) Stores Issues/Reports
(9) Air Safety Reports
(10) Reports on Technical Delays and Incidents
(11) Other sources: ETOPS, RVSM,
Information and data collection sources of information should be listed and procedures for the transmission of information from the sources, together with the procedure for collecting and receiving it should be referred to.
These procedures should reside with the organisation responsible for the continued airworthiness management of the aircraft and be reflected in their Maintenance Control Manual.
For additional information or to inquire regarding OTAR Training Courses please see www.sassofia.com or email office@sassofia.com
