The U.S. government has a bilateral agreement in place with the European Union, rather than EASA.

The U.S./EU Agreement covers more areas than bilateral agreements the U.S. has with other countries.

It is a three tiered agreement.

a) The highest tier is the Executive Agreement, which provides the framework for all cooperation between the U.S. and the EU in the area of aviation safety.
b) The second tier is the Annexes.

- Annex 1 covers airworthiness and environmental certification, and
- Annex 2 covers maintenance.

To be approved in accordance with 14 CFR Part 145, pursuant to the terms of this Annex, the AMO shall comply with all of the following Special Conditions:

The AMO shall submit an application in a form and a manner acceptable to the FAA.

a) The application for both initial and renewed FAA certification shall include:

i. A statement demonstrating that the FAA repair station certificate and/or rating is necessary for maintaining or altering U.S.-registered aeronautical products or foreign-registered aeronautical products operated under the provisions of 14 CFR.

Accountable Directorate:

The aircraft certification directorate with final authority, accountability, and responsibility for type certification programs, the development of airworthiness standards, and development and standardization of technical policy for an assigned product and a specific part of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR).

Aircraft Certification Office (ACO):

The aircraft certification directorate’s engineering operational element. This office administers and secures compliance with agency regulations, programs, standards, and procedures governing the type design of aircraft, aircraft engines, or propellers. The term “ACO” also refers to the Engine Certification Office (ECO), the Rotorcraft Certification Office (RCO) and the Special Certification Office (SCO), and the Military Certification Office (MCO).

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SofemaOnline (SOL) is your trusted online training partner for EASA and FAA Compliant Regulatory Training – Currently more than 2000 people are enrolled and undertaking training online with SOL!

Why is SofemaOnline Growing?

During 2018 SofemaOnline has doubled its online training business when compared to 2017 and this is a continuation of a trend because 2017 was a doubling of the business we achieved in 2016!

With a growing portfolio of courses and our ability to quickly respond to our customers needs we are anticipating to again double our business by the end of 2019!

The Elements of Aircraft Maintenance – Part 4

An article by our Guest Blogger and SAS Instructor and Consultant Kevin Rookes

Welcome to the final part of a four-part series that explains what constitutes maintenance from an FAA perspective and what are the differences between the elements that make up maintenance.

In this article we look at what is not a maintenance activity.

ACTIVITIES WHICH ARE NOT MAINTENANCE

It is mistakenly believed that if something has the potential to cause harm to the aircraft or its operation, the activity should be covered as a maintenance activity. That perception probably has ties to the language that is used in the definition of a “major repair” in § 1.1: “Major repair means a repair: (1) That, if improperly done, might appreciably affect weight, balance, structural strength, performance, powerplant operation, flight characteristics, or other qualities affecting airworthiness…” This has led people to improperly classify some activities that could affect the airworthiness of the aircraft, if done improperly, as maintenance. These activities include:

The Elements of Aircraft Maintenance – Part 3

An article by our Guest Blogger and SAS Instructor and Consultant Kevin Rookes

Welcome to the third part of a four-part series that explains what constitutes maintenance from an FAA perspective and what are the differences between the elements that make up maintenance?

This article provides an overview

REPLACEMENT OF PARTS

The replacement of parts is the removal and/or installation of parts on a product or article, and therefore, logically a maintenance task. However, there are some specific tasks that require further explanation.

Removing and Reinstalling the Same Part

The Elements of Aircraft Maintenance – Part 2

An article by our Guest Blogger and SAS Instructor and Consultant Kevin Rookes

Welcome to the second part of a four-part series that explains what constitutes maintenance from an FAA perspective and what are the differences between the elements that make up maintenance?This article considers what makes up overhaul, repair and preservation.

OVERHAUL

An overhaul includes several separate maintenance activities to restore a product or article to a condition that will give a reasonable assurance of operation for a specified amount of time. The term “overhaul” is mentioned in several places in the FAR’s but this article uses the definition in 14 CFR section 43.2(a), which states that an overhaul consists of disassembly, cleaning, inspection, repaired as necessary, reassembly, and testing.

Whilst the ancestry of the FAA goes back to the 1920’s  the “Modern” FAA essentially started with the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. A different level of aviation safety was to be found at this time with a number of accidents driving congress to mandate a new independent regulatory body with authority to address safety issues through the power of rulemaking.

Today the FAA has a broad reach with authority for all aspects of aviation related activity in the United States.

Meanwhile over in Europe the Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) forerunner of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) can show its origins back to the early 1970’s. 

The original purpose of the JAA was to provide oversight and guidance related to the design and certification of large Aircraft, Engines and APU’s. It was during these early days that an alignment started to take place between the FAA and the JAA to introduce common certification codes for large aircraft and aircraft engines. Such alignment contributed to the common acceptance of Aircraft Parts and Alliances by participating entities.

Steve Bentley MD of Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com – explains

A type certificate holder (TCH) can produce parts for its airplanes through the process of the manufacturers authorisation FAR Part 21 / EASA Part 21 Subpart G has the authorization to manufacture those parts on the basis of its type certificate, and production certificate.

However organisation who are authorised as PMA-holding manufacturers are permitted to make replacement parts for aircraft, even though they are not the original manufacturer of the aircraft. An applicant for a PMA applies for approval from the FAA.

An STC is a certificate. It defines the product design change, states how the modification affects the existing type design, and lists serial number effectivity. It also identifies the certification basis, listing specific regulatory compliance for the design change. Information contained in the certification basis is helpful for those applicants proposing subsequent product modifications and evaluating certification basis compatibility with other STC modifications.

Sofema Aviation Services www.sassofia.com and SofemaOnline www.sofemaonline.com

Offering Regulatory Compliant Training for FAA Repair Stations In Classroom & Online

Concerning FAA -EASA Bilateral Agreement

The FAA notes that some part 145 repair stations have European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certifications. EASA part 145 contains licensing and training requirements for Approved Maintenance Organizations (AMO) that perform maintenance on articles of those operators under the regulatory control of European Union (EU) Member States.

These EASA part 145 requirements can affect FAA part 145-approved repair stations that also have EASA approvals; since EASA requires maintenance human factors training as part of the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) and Maintenance Implementation Procedures (MIP) with the United States.

The FAA training program may include the requirements of other civil aviation authorities as long as the part 145 requirements are also met.

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SOL is supported by European Aviation Institute (EAI) an EASA Part 147 approved Maintenance Training Organization (MTO) with Certificate of Approval No RO.147.0003.

Our trainings are designed to be effective and to help you reach the correct level of understanding in the comfort of your own home or office.

FAA 14 CFR Part 145 Detailed Initial Training has been developed for Quality Managers, Technicians, Mechanics, and Repairmen who are either currently involved in a repair station or intend in the future to establish a 14 CFR Part 145 repair station.

What does the FAA Say about Limit of Validity?

The limit of validity (LOV) represents an operational limit based on fatigue test evidence that supports the maintenance program. The FAA defines the LOV as “the period of time (in flight cycles, flight hours, or both) up to which it has been demonstrated by test evidence, analysis and, if available, service experience and teardown inspections, that widespread fatigue damage will not occur in the airplane structure.” It is further defined as the point in the structural life of an airplane at which there is significantly increased risk of uncertainties in structural performance and probable development of WFD.

Once the airworthiness limitations containing the LOV are approved by the FAA, an airplane may not operate beyond the LOV.

A Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) is an FAA  or EASA approved major modification or repair to an existing type certified aircraft, engine or propeller. As it adds to the existing type certificate, it is deemed 'supplemental'. As its name suggests, an STC is a certificate. It defines the product design change, states how the modification affects the existing type design, and lists serial number effectively. It also identifies the certification basis, listing specific regulatory compliance for the design change.

An STC being a supplemental type design approval for a major alteration and specific to a make and model or even a specific serial number as a one “off” STC

The STC Holder – STCH remains ultimately responsible for the certification of the modification.  An STC is a design approval, however it doesn’t allow the holder to produce anything. (typically created by Part 21 /FAR 21 Subpart J Organisation Design Approval Holder (DAH) Design Organisation Approval (DOA)).

Note - The STC, which incorporates by reference the related Type Certificate (TC), approves not only the modification, but how the modification affects the original design.

The application must be made in the form and manner prescribed by the FAA  or EASA.

Comment by Steven Bentley MD of Sofema Aviation Services

What are PMA Parts?

For more than 50 years the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been granting Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) to allow third-party manufacturing organisations to produce replacement parts for aircraft (Means parts that are usually not produced with the permission of the Original Equipment Manufacturer - OEM).

To quote the FAA PMA which standards for Parts Manufacturer Approval is in fact a combined design and production approval which is issued for the production of modification or replacement parts, which includes materials, parts, processes and appliances.

A primary consideration is that you must not infringe upon any product patents.
A PMA approval allows you to fit the part to an aircraft as a replacement for the original part, off course the part must be every bit as safe as the original part and this needs to be demonstrated to the approving authority for example the FAA.