Aircraft Maintenance Programs

This chapter introduces the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and two of the regulatory environments that are based on its Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs): the European Union Aviation Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies the international standards and EASA and FAA regulations that are relevant to understand the Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP) requirements.

This chapter introduces the approvals and certifications that are required to operate and aircraft: from the Type Certficate (TC), Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA), Air Operator Certificate (AOC), Operations Specification (OpSpecs), Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC, only for EASA) to the Certificate of Release to Service (CRS) after maintenance.

This chapter introduces and compares the requirements of the Continuing Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME) for an EASA Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) and the FAA Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP) for an FAA operator.

This chapter introduces the different types of design and changes to the design and the responsibilities of the Design Organizations to provide the operators and interested parties with the appropriate Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA).

This chapter details the main content of an Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP) including key concepts for its revision and development, as well as the Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) as the main repository document provided by the manufacturer to assist operators.

This chapter details the primary sources of an Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP): the ICAs required during the type certification, Airworthiness Limitations (ALS) and Certification Maintenance Requirements (CMR), and the initial scheduled maintenance tasks developed alongside the type certification, the Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR).

This chapter introduces the Continuing Structural Integrity Program that is developed by the TCH to maintain the airworthiness of aging aircraft in absence of certain maintenance inspection programs such as a Damage Tolerance (DT) maintenance inspection program or a Corrosion Prevention and Control Program (CPCP).

This chapter details dynamic repetitive requirements that are in constant evolution and for which the AMP suppose a snapshot at the time of the AMP revisión: Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information (MCAI), Modifications and Repairs, and Non-mandatory Recommendations.

This chapter details the schedule maintenance requirements to maintain specific operation approvals (RVSM, MNPSSP, PBN, EDTO, and AWO), requirements to support changes to the type of operation (utilization changes and low/high utilization recommendations) and other miscellaneous operational requirements such as those dedicated to the maintenance items of the preflight check, safety/emergency, flight recorders, and the weight and balance of the aircraft.

This chapter introduces the acceptance of components, the Maintenance Program of specific components (Evacuation Slides, as a representation of components maintenance, and complex systems such as the Landing Gears and Powerplants), and highlights the importance and provides guidance for adequate Configuration Management and Robbery procedures.

This chapter introduces the procedures to determine and manage the Threshold / Interval at which an Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP) task has to be performed: Maintenance Clock starting point, Grace periods (Compliance Time), Permitted Variations, Exceptional Short-term Extension, and Task Escalation.

Following the previous section for the AMP Task Interval Management – Task Escalation, this chapter introduces the AMP Evolution/Optimization process that may be required when an operator(s) requires a high level of expertise to analyze its own in-service experience data with the purpose of escalation, or it is required a higher level of confidence to undertake the escalation project.

This chapter introduces the different Maintenance Check concepts that may be used to package Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP) tasks, detailing the advantages and disadvantages of their use, and the Bridge Programs that are required to transition the aircraft between different AMPs.

This chapter outlines the activities to induct an aircraft into an Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP).

This chapter introduces the countermeasures to minimize the risks of human errors/omissions during the performance of maintenance tasks that could impact on safety: the Critical Maintenance Tasks (CMT) and Identical Tasks in the EASA environment, and the Required Inspection Items (RII) in the FAA environment. It also introduces Dual Maintenance on Extended Diversion Time Operations (EDTO(ETOPS)) Significant Systems.

TThis chapter introduces the EASA and FAA regulatory requirements for a Reliability Program.

This chapter details the Reliability Program process: reliability data sources, identification of deviations from performance standards, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of the deviations, and implementation of corrective actions.

This chapter details the process to analyze the AMP Task Effectiveness and the implementation of the results.

This chapter proposes the presentation of the reliability data, adverse trends, analyses, and corrective actions taken to close the continuous reliability loop process, supported by the technical reliability meeting and the reliability board meeting.

This chapter details the operation of a hypothetical medium to large engineering and maintenance organization.

This chapter details the main interactions of the Maintenance Program function with other functions of the organization and highlights the importance of effective and efficient communication and collaboration.

This chapter introduces the elements of the Aircraft Maintenance Program (AMP) that must be taken into consideration during its revision to minimize the impact on other functions and to avoid any posible disruption.

This chapter briefly introduces the differences between hazard identification and safety risk management.

This chapter introduces the Human Factors as sources of errors, and three of the most popular models and tools for the analysis and understanding of the interactions of such factors with other components of the aviation system: the SHELL model, the PEAR model and the Dirty Dozen.

Following the previous section for Human Factors, this chapter introduces and illustrates the errors in the context of the organization, encompassing technical, human, and organizational factors through the Reason’s Model (Swiss Cheese Model).

This chapter introduces the Safety Management principles that cascade down from the ICAO Annex 19 and the different approaches between EASA and the FAA. It empowers the Safety Culture concept for effective Safety Reporting Systems.

This chapter introduces the most common requirements and standards to which an operator can be audited: the Aviation Regulations (EASA/FAA), the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), and the ISO 9001:2018 standards.

This chapter introduces some useful tools for Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and selection of optimum solutions, and aims to anticipate risks and potential issues by using Proactive Problem Solving methodologies.

This chapter introduces several methodologies than can be used for the continuous improvement of the organization’s processes with the purpose of making them more effective and efficient: Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma and Agile. It also proposes a variety of continuous improvement tools, such as Process Mapping, the Gemba Walk or the Kaizen Events, to assist on the challenge.

This chapter highlights the importance of taking informed decisions and propose two of the most powerful methods that can benefit the organization: Business Intelligence (BI) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA).

This chapter introduces some of the innovative technologies that are changing the aircraft maintenance and its work environment: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Maintenance Automation, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Predictive and Prescriptive Aircraft Maintenance, and Blockchain.