Continuing Airworthiness

        Having an aircraft that meets all Airworthiness Directives is not a difficult task to accomplish with the proper plan and supervision. As mentioned in the previous blog, maintenance is a large part of how an air carrier gets an aircraft to meet the standards set forth to have an aircraft ready to fly in accordance with all the standards and directives. But how does an air carrier know what maintenance to perform, when to perform various inspections, how is the work documented, and who verifies that everything required is done?

            Both the FAA and EASA again have similar goals towards airworthiness, but the methods and references used differ greatly between the two. The focus is on producing a quality product in the cheapest and safest way possible without endangering the lives of the people on board the aircraft. Both the FAA and the EASA will be discussed briefly.

The FAA directs the requirement to maintain ten elements of a maintenance program. One of those ten elements is called Continuing Analysis and Surveillance System (CASS) and is outlined in Advisory Circular (AC) number 120-79A. Through this system, the air carrier is able to augment and improve how the carrier decides when to perform maintenance, schedule inspections, ensure proper documentation of work performed, look for trends, and ensure continued airworthiness. Directly from AC 120-79A, the high level purpose of the CASS is to “reduce or eliminate the likelihood of your aircraft being approved for return to service (RTS) when it is not airworthy through the continuous, system safety-based, closed-loop cycle of surveillance, investigation, data collection, analysis, corrective action, monitoring, and feedback (FAA, 2013).”

The EASA sets forth the requirements for continuing airworthiness through Continuing Airworthiness Requirements – Part M. Despite being a large document, the requirements are not as straight forward and have a tendency to be a bit vague. The requirements do set forth some similar ideas and methods used in the FAA, such as setting up maintenance standards, continuing airworthiness guidelines, maintenance management and organization, and sets up guidelines for setting up competent authorities. The competent authorities are used for inspection purposes. EASA focuses a bit more with meeting inspection requirements and relies on the competent authority to verify everything is done correctly, documented, and that the aircraft is in fact airworthy.

Federal Aviation Administration. (May 17, 2013). Developing and implementing an air carrier continuing analysis surveillance system. Advisory Circular (120-79A).