Evaluation & Insight of Commercial Aircraft
Maintenance Programs
MAINTENANCE
Task required to restore or maintain an aircrafts
systems, components, and structures in an airworthy
condition.
Operational
Value Retention
To keep the aircraft in a
serviceable and reliable
condition so as to
generate revenue.
To maintain the current
and future value of the
aircraft by minimizing
the
physical
deterioration of the
aircraft throughout its
life.
Regulatory
Requirements
The condition and the
maintenance
of
aircraft are regulated
by
the
aviation
authorities
of
the
jurisdiction in which
the
aircraft
is
registered.
Pilot and Mechanics assessed an aircrafts need for maintenance
based on their individual experiences
The Introduction of the airlines as a new method of transport,
program were started to monitor reliability and safety
The aircraft manufacturer became the source of maintenance
program development. Time limitations were established for
maintenance and the entire aircraft was periodically disassembled,
overhauled, and reassembled in an effort to maintain the highest
level of safety. This was the origin of the first primary
maintenance process referred to as Hard-Time (HT).
Investigation Results of Preventive Maintenance (by FAA &
Airlines):
1. Scheduled overhaul has little effect on the overall reliability of a complex
equipment unless the equipment has a dominant failure mode
2. There are many items for which there is no effective application for
scheduled hard-time maintenance.
This investigation led to the
development of a second
primary maintenance process,
On-Condition (OC)
MSG 1
Maintenance Evaluation and Program Development
(Boeing 747)
MSG 2
Introducing a third primary maintenance process,
Condition Monitoring (L-1011 and DC-10)
MSG 3
ATA task force led to development of a new, taskoriented, maintenance process
Maintenance Task Development
Generic List of Tasks
Lubrication / Servicing (LU/SV or LUB/SVC) for the purpose of
maintaining inherent design capabilities.
Operational / Visual Check (OP/VC or OPC/VCK) a failure finding task
to determine if an item is fulfilling its intended purpose.
Functional Check / Inspection (FC /IN* or */FNC) functional checks are
a quantitative checks to determine if one or more functions of an item
perform within specified limits. Three levels of inspections are: General
Visual Inspection (GV or GVI), Detailed Inspection (DI or DET), and Special
Detailed Inspection (SI or SDI)
Restoration (RS or RST) reworking, replacement of parts or cleaning
necessary to return an item to a specified standard.
Discard (DS or DIS) the removal from service of an item at a specified life
limit.
Maintenance Program Groupings
Systems & Powerplant Program
Purpose: perform functional and/or operational checks on
typical airplane systems i.e. flight controls, pneumatics,
electrical power, etc.
Zonal Inspection Program
Purpose: to assess the general condition of attachment of all
systems and structures items contained in each zone by use of
defined zonal inspection tasks.
Structural Inspection Program
Purpose: designed to provide timely detection and repair of
structural damage during commercial operations.
Maintenance Review Board
The board is staffed by representatives of the
airline operators purchasing the equipment,
the manufacturers of the airframe and
engine, and the Regulatory Authorities
whom generally have MRB chairperson
duties.
Industry Steering Committee
Responsibility: establish policy, set initial
goals for scheduled maintenance check
intervals, direct the activities of the working
groups,
and
prepare
the
final
recommendations to the MRB organization.
Maintenance Working Groups
Purpose: to apply MSG-3 logic to develop
and propose both maintenance tasks and
intervals for a specific aircraft type.
The Policy and Procedures Handbook (PPH) sets forth the policies
and procedures that are to be followed by the ISC, MRB and the
various MWGs to ensure consistency during analysis of the design.
The Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) document contains all the
MRB requirements plus mandatory scheduled maintenance requirements
that may only be changed with the permission of the applicable
airworthiness authority.
Certification Maintenance
Requirements (CMR)
A CMR is a required periodic task
established
during
the
design
certification of the airplane as an
operating limitation of the Type
Certificate (TC).
Airworhiness Limitations (AL)
A regulatory approved means of
introducing inspections or maintenance
practices to prevent problems with
certain systems.
A program reflecting all applicable scheduled maintenance tasks valid for the
particular fleet of the operator, based upon the latest revision of the MPD.
A-Check
Consists of a general inspection of the interior/exterior
of the airplane with selected areas opened. The Acheck is typically performed biweekly to monthly.
C-Check
Every 12- 20 months depending on the operator,
airplane type and utilization.
D-Check
Heavy Maintenance Visit (HMV), occurs every 6-12
years. Usually the aircraft is taken out of service for
several weeks.
Block check packaging method is focused on the principle of grouping tasks
which require frequent repetition under a letter check (i.e. A, C, & D
Checks).
Phased check apportions tasks to smaller packages that may be accomplished
more frequently than the packages in a block check.
Short-Term
Storage
Removed from operational status for less than
60 days.
IntermediateTerm Storage
Removed from operational status for more than
60 days but less than 120 days.
Long-Term
Storage
Removed from operational status for 120 days
or more.
On occasions an operator may require changing an aircraft,
or fleet of aircraft, to a new maintenance program for the
purpose of increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
Condition assumes that every component or maintenance service which has
a prescribed interval that determines its service life, overhaul interval or
interval between maintenance services, is at a condition which is one
Half of the total interval.
APPENDIX 1 EXAMPLE BLOCK & PHASED MAINTENANCE
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
Letter Check Maintenance Program
Phased Maintenance Program
APPENDIX 2 MPD TASK IDENTIFICATION
APPENDIX 3 AICRAFT STORAGE PROGRAM TYPICAL
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
Procedure of Inducting
Airframe
- Installation of protective coverings and closing of all
external openings (except drains),
- Parking/mooring procedures,
- Installation of safety pins,
- Washing of aircraft (due to environment, may be repetitive),
- Landing gear strut servicing, lubricating and protection of
the oleo,
- Tire inflation and rotation,
- Fuel system decontamination,
- Primary and secondary flight control cycling and
lubrication,
- Protection of windows,
- Inspection of seats and carpet for moisture/mildew (if
stored in humid environments),
- Preserving lavatories and water systems, and
- Opening of closets, cabinets, and interior doors to supply
ventilation and to prevent mildew.
Engine
Electrical
Engine
- Procedures to operate the engine/APU on an
established interval,
- Complete preservation of the engine/APU, and
- Opening/closing of circuit breakers,
- Battery servicing/disconnection,
- Removal of batteries from emergency devices such as
megaphone, flashlights, power supplies for emergency
lights, emergency beacons, etc., and
- Procedures to transition the aircraft from preservation to a
state acceptable for engine operations and operational
checks of systems, back to the preserved state, and
- Operational checks of hydraulics, electrical, engine, fuel
systems and avionics, etc.
Procedure of Returning
1) Audit the current status of the aircraft to the maintenance program and
comply with required tasks, including ADs, life limited components,
certification maintenance requirements, avionics databases, etc
2) Conduct other inspections and operational checks, as deemed
necessary, based on the amount of time the aircraft was in storage and
the environment to which it was exposed.
3) Conduct any operational check flights or test flights prior to return to
service.
