The Role of the Industry Steering Committee (ISC)
The Industry Steering Committee (ISC) consists of a team composed of delegates from the proposed or actual operators, as well as manufacturers, (Note the manufacturer does not âownâ the process) as well as regulators (who typically chair the process.)
The activities of the ISC are to essentially follow the guidance outlined in Advisory Circular AC 121-22A, based on the use of ATA MSG 3 methodology to develop the scheduled maintenance program for a given aircraft systems structure and engines.
The ISC, are tasked with developing and establishing the policy for the development of the MRBR proposal and participate in the review and approval process of the ISC. The document is termed the Policy and Procedures Handbook PPH.
What is the Maintenance Review Board MRB?
The Maintenance Review Board MRB is the group led by the Airworthiness Authority which determines, by issue of an MRB Report, the principles which should be applied to the development of a Maintenance Programme for an aircraft type or aircraft engine type.
Through the life of the aircraft, further MRB Reports are issued as necessary to ensure that approved maintenance regimes continue to take full account of aircraft modifications and variants. The MRB Working Groups following the instructions of the ISC and the process proscribed by MSG3 deliver a completed document which is known as the maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR).
The âMRB processâ consists of all the activities performed to produce, review, accept and amend the Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR). The MRBR contains the minimum scheduled maintenance requirements for derivative or newly type certified aircraft (Airplanes and Rotorcrafts) and as such will be included within an aircraftâs Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) and meets part of the requirements of CS 25.1529 and CS 25 Appendix H, CS 23.1529 and CS 23 Appendix G, CS 29.1529 and CS 29 Appendix A, CS 27.1529 and CS 27 Appendix A.
The initial MRB report for any new aircraft is developed essentially in the absence of actual in service experience. As a result, the tendency is to be conservative in the decision making process. As service experience is accumulated, task intervals (thresholds/repeats) should be adjusted to reflect the results of actual in-service data. (The MRBR is used as the source document for the MPD.)
What is the Maintenance Planning Document (MPD)?
The Maintenance Planning Document is a document defining all tasks related to the performance of maintenance for a given aircraft and provides the information needed to define the aircraft maintenance program.
It is âtask-drivenâ because it refers to all maintenance task, identified by reference ot accomplishment DATA and associated to the relevant deadline in terms of flight cycles, flight hours or calendar days. The Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) contains all the MRB requirements together with the mandatory scheduled maintenance requirements.
The MPD identifies certain âplanning informationâ, like man hours and skills. Analysis of the MPD provides an organisation with a significant amount of information relevant to the accomplishment of aircraft maintenance
After âproof of conceptâ with the accumulation of reliability data it is quite common for MRBR tasks to receive interval escalation. (Note that âMandatoryâ Airworthiness Limitation Section (ALS) may only be escalated with the permission and concurrence of the applicable airworthiness authority.)
Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR) tasks are all derived from the ATA Airline/Manufacture Maintenance Program Planning Document using MSG-3 analysis also listing their MSG-3 Failure effect categories and intervals.
Supplemental inspection tasks derived outside of the MRB process are detailed in the aircraftâs Certification Maintenance Requirement (CMR) and Airworthiness Limitation (AWL) documents.
The MPD has all the tasks from the MRBR, plus other tasks over the years which the airframe and engine manufactures suggest or recommend that an operator should carry out.
The MPD will also include SB inspections and some AD tasks if there is no terminating action for the AD. The MPD will also include tasks from the CMP (ETOPS manual).
The MPD has all the mandatory inspections for systems and structure together with fuel AWLs listed. The MPD contains additional planning information for example man hours.
Development of the MPD continues unabated as long as the aircraft remains in service.
The Airframe, Engine and Component Manufacturers work with an Industry Steering Committee to improve the cost efficiency and effectiveness of the maintenance tasks based on accumulation and analysis of maintenance data by the operators.
Operators are responsible for the effectiveness of their maintenance program and welcome opportunities to escalate their scheduled maintenance programs based on MRBR source data .
Typically improvements are developed to optimize the content and interval of maintenance tasks whilst maintaining inherent safety and reliability and delivering cost inefficiencies. Improvements are based on Manufactures analysis of in-service data collected from the worldwide fleet. All improvements are reviewed and approved through an industry process involving TCH, operators, and regulatory agencies.
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Tags:
EASA Compliant Aircraft Certification Principles, ISC, MPD, MRB
