Avionics News November 2011 - (Page 58)

series B y J a S o n D i C K S t e i n aea general CounSel Component Maintenance Manuals: Guidance for Manufacturers and repair stations here has been a tremendous amount of controversy lately surrounding component maintenance manuals and their availability. The Federal Aviation Administration has specific rules concerning instructions for continued airworthiness. ICAs must be produced by manufacturers of type certificated products, such as aircraft engines and propellers. They must meet certain minimum standards published in the regulations. Other design approval holders are also required to create ICAs. For example, PMA applicants must have ICAs, STC applicants must have ICAs, and even field approval applicants are required to develop ICAs. But, ICAs are not synonymous with component maintenance manuals. Under Federal Aviation Administration regulations and policy, the world of CMMs can be divided into two categories. Some CMMs are stand-alone documents. Other CMMs are required by the FAA’s rules (where there is a design approval associated directly with the component) or they are cross referenced by a required document (incorporated by reference in an ICA). When the CMM is filling the 58 avionics news T role of a required ICA or is cross referenced by ICA, the FAA has said that it must be made available according to the ICA rules. But, the FAA has remained somewhat ambiguous about the availability of CMMs that are not ICA. after Jan. 28, 1981, because that was the effective date of the current ICA rules. For such design approvals, the certification basis will include the FAA rules that required the ICAs to have been produced. The FAA’s rules explain that if the Some CMMs are stand-alone documents. Other CMMs are required by the FAA’s rules (where there is a design approval associated directly with the component) or they are cross referenced by a required document (incorporated by reference in an ICA). CMMs May Be Subject to FAA Oversight The FAA’s rules explicitly permit type certificate holders to reference a CMM when the component is sufficiently complex. Thus, it is common practice to find that the maintenance manuals for an aircraft will reference component maintenance manuals as the sources for maintenance instructions for a wide variety of components, ranging from avionics to windows. Note that the ICA rules generally apply to manuals created for products where the application for the latest design approval was made aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller maintenance information references the use of a CMM as the appropriate location for the maintenance instructions, then those applicable instructions in the CMM are incorporated by reference and become part of the complete set of the ICA. If CMM information was developed to comply with the ICA requirements, then the CMM may be part of the ICA. As part of the ICA, they must be furnished to the aircraft owner and also be made available to any other person required by the FAA’s regulations to comply with those instructions. • november 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News November 2011

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View From Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
EVS
Member Profile
High Plains Possibilities
Electronic Engine Instruments
A Conversation With...
Crisis Aloft?
Meet the AEA Board
Aviation Aces
Business Basics
Pro*to*col
Legal Ease
Advertisers Index
Theory & Practice
What's New
Marketplace Classifieds

Avionics News November 2011