Aircraft Maintenance Technology

APR 2017

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GAMA INSIGHT By Pete Bunce 66 APRIL 2017 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY Y OU MIGHT HAVE HE ARD ABOUT THE RECENT advances in reducing the fatal accident rate in general aviation (GA). Preliminar y data for 2016 indicates that it's the first year on record with a rate below one fatal accidents per 100,000 hours flown. The joint work bet ween the Federal Aviation Administration (FA A) and industr y under the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) has focused on mitigating the risk of loss of control accidents. The work has touched on aircraf t design standards, the abilit y to cost- ef fec tively install safet y- enhancing equipment, modernizing pilot training standards, and providing pilots with data-driven educational programs. Loss of control remains the cause behind the largest share of GA accidents, at over 40 percent throughout the past decade. Our focus remains reducing the risk of loss of control. Over the past two years, industr y has also worked with the FA A to look at one of the other large areas of fatal accidents: power plant failures. The accident analysis — conducted by a group of govern- ment, industr y, and academic subject matter exper ts — about engine failures resulted in 10 so-called "safety enhancements" (SEs) that have been added to the FA A/ Industr y GA Safety Plan. Our work involves pilot training and education as well as some new technology oppor tunities to enhance safety if the engine fails during critical phases of flight. A common theme in the accidents reviewed by the GAJSC is also the impor tance of proper maintenance, training of mechanics, and adherence to instructions and proce - dures. I'm taking the oppor tunity to highlight here three of the enhancements that are now being implemented. First, SE-47 focuses on improved guidance to main- tenance professionals and improved training for the communit y about the accident analysis results. The FA A is implementing this recommendation as par t of its modernization of the existing air frame and power plant testing standards that involves shifting the existing "PTS" into the Airmen Cer tification Standards structure. This was done for pilot training over the past few years as well. This modernization will ensure new maintenance professionals are trained to relevant standards and understand practical risk management considerations. Second, SE-49 focuses on outreach and education. The FA A is taking the lead on this work as par t of its FA A Safety Team program, and a number of associations are par taking and using the results of the engine accident analysis in their member educational programs. When you attend seminars over the next year, expect to see emphasis placed on proper torqueing techniques and the impor tance of checking critical par ts, both of which emerged in the accident data as common issues. Third, SE-45 asks industr y members to ensure they have a process for returning an aircraft to ser vice after work has been done or the aircraft has been out of oper- ation for a long time. Several fatal accidents involved aircraf t being flown with known deficiencies and, in some cases, being flown while maintenance was still under way. The simplest step you can take as a mechanic is to ensure an aircraft in maintenance is clearly identi- fied as "undergoing maintenance" in a way that's visible to a pilot. Place a sign on the propeller or in the cockpit while you're doing work. And, you should have a clear process between yourself and the owner or operator of the aircraft to track and identif y the air worthiness status of an aircraft. The pilot and aircraft owner naturally have an impor tant role in ensuring that they know the status of the aircraft before going flying. We are star ting to see a measurable improvement in the GA accident rate af ter a decade of mostly flat numbers. In my view, safet y is not achieved through new cumbersome regulations, but by all members of the aviation communit y actively working toward the same goal — ongoing improvement of the safety of our industr y. You can find more about the work of the GAJSC, including the result of the engine failure accident analy- sis, by visiting www.GAJSC.org. ENGINE SAFETY AND PROPER MAINTENANCE A common theme in the accidents reviewed by the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee is the importance of proper maintenance, training of mechanics, and adherence to instructions and procedures PETE BUNCE is president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), which represents more than 85 of the world's leading manufacturers of general avia- tion airplanes and rotorcraft, engines, avion- ics, components, and related services. GAMA's members also operate repair stations, FBOs, pilot and main- tenance training facilities and manage fleets of aircraft. For more info: www. gama.aero .

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