Avionics News November 2014 - 63

The obvious question that arises from this regulatory
distinction is, "What is the difference between tooling and
equipment?" How do we know whether something is a tool or
equipment?
This is a hard question to answer. FAA case law typically
refers to a failure "to use acceptable tools, equipment and test
apparatus." Cases involving these items will list all three categories. This makes it impossible to know whether the court is
categorizing the item as a tool, equipment or test apparatus.
As a practical matter, the distinction may not make a difference. For tooling, the manufacturer's manual still is important, because it serves as a source to help identify accepted
industry practice. In addition, the courts have
said that "adherence to manufacturers' manuals is an important component of performing
work on parts." Administrator v. U.S. Aircraft
Instruments, Order EA-5506, 2010 NTSB Lexis
10 (2010).
Tooling equipment and
apparatus process flow
This three-step analysis may help identify
which equipment and apparatus is the right
equipment and apparatus to use.
1. Is special equipment or test apparatus recommended by the product manufacturer?
If so, then use the equipment or apparatus.
Also, industry best practices suggest using
manufacturer-recommended tooling. If you can't
get the manufacturer-recommended equipment
or apparatus, then you should choose alternative
equipment/apparatus that is acceptable to the administrator.
Although FAA approval of the alternative equipment/apparatus
is not required, some indicia of acceptability, such as a letter
acknowledging acceptability from your principle FAA inspector, is very useful to allow you to demonstrate your compliance.
2. Is special equipment or test apparatus recommended by
the component manufacturer?
The first place we tend to look for tooling recommendations is in the airframe maintenance manual or the engine
maintenance manual; but it is important to remember that the
specific language in the regulations calls out the "manufacturer
involved" so the component manufacturer may be a source of
tooling information (this is especially important with respect to
avionics, where nearly all of the relevant guidance is found in
the component maintenance/installation manual).
3. Is there no manufacturer's recommendation concerning
special equipment or test apparatus?
Where there is no manufacturer's recommendation concerning special equipment or test apparatus, you are free to use the

tools, equipment and test apparatus that are consistent with
accepted industry practice. Notice that the accepting body in
this analysis is industry - not the FAA - so indicia of FAA
acceptability may be unnecessary. Nonetheless, FAA documents can provide evidence of accepted industry practices. For
example, Advisory Circular 43.13-1B (Acceptable Methods,
Techniques and Practices - Aircraft Inspection and Repair) has
been used a source for identifying tooling.
What if the right tool is unavailable?
In some cases, the right tool can be identified, but the
actual tool might be unavailable. What can you do then?

The first instinct for some might be to use some other
tool, equipment or apparatus. This is a good instinct, but you
need to make sure that the alternative meets the regulatory
requirements. Using the wrong tool, equipment or apparatus
will not be acceptable.
So how can you make it the right equipment or apparatus?
One way is to use an equivalent that is acceptable to the
administrator. The administrator (through your local inspector) can indicate acceptability through a letter recognizing
the acceptability of the equipment or apparatus for your
intended use, or through a process specification or other
written authorization issued to a repair station. Similarly,
a letter approving the use of a tool would be acceptable,
because the FAA is generally allowed to approve articles
through any means it chooses.
As always, if you think you might be doing something
the wrong way, then stop and look carefully at what you are
doing to make sure that you've identified the right way to
accomplish the task. q
avionics news

november

2014

Avionics News November 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News November 2014