10.3 Approved Maintenance Organisations Flashcards
Part-145 is Annex II to Continuing Airworthiness Regulation - UK Regulation (EU) No. 1321/2014 and details the standards with which an organisation must comply in order to be approved to carry out the maintenance of aircraft and components.
Part-145 Section A sets forth stringent guidelines and standards that must be adhered to by maintenance organisations to ensure the safety and airworthiness of aircraft
Part-145 Section B also addresses the responsibilities of the CAA, outlining its role in approving, overseeing, and monitoring maintenance organisations. It establishes the criteria for the issuance, renewal, and amendment of maintenance organisation approvals.
An application for a certificate or an amendment to an existing certificate must be made in a form and manner established by the CAA, taking into account the applicable requirements of Annex I (Part-M), Annex Vb (Part-ML) and Part-145.
Applicants for an initial certificate pursuant to this Annex must provide the CAA with:
the results of a pre-audit performed by the organisation against the applicable requirements provided for in Annex I (Part-M), Annex Vb (Part-ML) and Part-145;
documentation demonstrating how they intend to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.
The organisation’s scope of work must be specified in the maintenance organisation exposition (“MOE”);
The organisation must comply with the terms of approval attached to the organisation certificate issued by the CAA, and with the scope of work specified in the MOE.
The organisation shall ensure that:
-For base maintenance of aircraft, aircraft hangars are both available and large enough to accommodate aircraft on planned base maintenance;
-For component maintenance, component workshops are large enough to accommodate the components on planned maintenance.
-Office accommodation is provided for the management of the planned work referred to in point (a), and certifying staff so that they can carry out their designated tasks in a manner that contributes to good aircraft maintenance standards.
The working environment :
-Temperatures
-dust and airborne contamination are kept to a minimum
-adequate lighting
-noise
-where a particular maintenance task requires the application of specific environmental conditions different to the foregoing, then such conditions are observed. Specific conditions are identified in the maintenance data.
the working environment for line maintenance is such that the work be suspended until satisfactory conditions are re-established.
Secure storage facilities are provided for components, equipment, tools and material.
the organisation must appoint an accountable manager that has corporate authority to ensure that all maintenance activities of the organisation can be financed and carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1139
The accountable manager must
ensure that all necessary resources are available to accomplish maintenance in accordance with this Annex, Annex I (Part-M) and Annex Vb (Part-ML), as applicable, to support the organisation certificate;
establish and promote the safety policy;
demonstrate a basic understanding of this Regulation.
The accountable manager must nominate
a person or group of persons representing the management structure for the maintenance functions and with the responsibility to ensure that the organisation works in accordance with the MOE and approved procedures. It must be made clear in the procedures who deputises for a particular person in the case of lengthy absence of that person;
must nominate a person or group of persons with the responsibility to manage the compliance monitoring function as part of the management system;
must nominate a person or group of persons with the responsibility to manage the development, administration and maintenance of effective safety management processes as part of the management system.
For base maintenance carried out at a location outside the United Kingdom, support staff may be qualified in accordance with the national aviation regulations of the State in which the organisation facility is located subject to the conditions specified in Appendix IV to this Annex (Part-145).
For line maintenance carried out at a line station located outside the United Kingdom, the certifying staff may be qualified, subject to the conditions specified in Appendix IV to this Annex, in accordance with the following alternative conditions:
national aviation regulations of the State in which the line station is located,
national aviation regulation of the State in which the organisation’s principal place of business is located
If an aircraft is operated away from a supported location, the organisation may issue a limited certification authorisation to the pilot on the basis of the flight crew licence held, subject to being satisfied that the pilot has carried out sufficient practical training ensuring that the pilot can accomplish the specified tasks.
In the following unforeseen cases, where an aircraft is grounded at a location other than the main base where no appropriate certifying staff are available, the organisation contracted to provide maintenance support may issue a one-off certification authorisation:(i) to one of its employees holding equivalent type authorisations on aircraft of similar technology, construction and systems; or(ii) to any person with not less than five years maintenance experience and holding a valid ICAO aircraft maintenance licence rated for the aircraft type requiring certification provided there is no organisation appropriately approved under this Part at that location and the contracted organisation obtains and holds on file evidence of the experience and the licence of that person.
All such cases as specified in this point must be reported to the CAA within seven days after issuing such certification authorisation
‘Support staff’ means those staff holding an aircraft maintenance licence under Annex III (Part-66) in category B1, B2, B2L, B3 and/or L with the appropriate aircraft ratings, working in a base maintenance environment while not necessarily holding certification privileges.
‘Relevant aircraft and/or components’, means those aircraft or components specified in the particular certification authorisation
‘Certification authorisation’ means the authorisation issued to certifying staff by the organisation and which specifies the fact that those staff may sign certificates of release to service within the limitations stated in such authorisation on behalf of the approved organisation.
The organisation shall ensure that all certifying staff and support staff are involved in at least 6 months of actual relevant aircraft or component maintenance experience in any consecutive 2-year period.
The organisation must ensure that all certifying staff and support staff receive sufficient recurrent training in each 2 year period to ensure that they have up to date knowledge of relevant technologies, organisation procedures and safety management, including human factor issues.
The organisation must provide certifying staff with a copy of their certification authorisation in either written or electronic format.
Certifying staff must produce their certification authorisation to any authorised person within 24 hours of the request.
The minimum age for certifying staff and support staff is 21 years.
In order to be approved to carry out airworthiness reviews and to issue the corresponding airworthiness review certificates (ARC) for aircraft covered by Part-ML, the organisation must have airworthiness review staff that comply with all of the following requirements:
they have acquired experience in continuing airworthiness of at least 1 year for sailplanes and balloons and of at least 3 years for all other aircraft;
they hold a certifying staff authorisation for the corresponding aircraft;
they have acquired knowledge of Part-M, Subpart C, or Part-ML, Subpart C;
they have acquired knowledge of the procedures of the maintenance organisation relevant to the airworthiness review and issue of the airworthiness review certificate.
Before the organisation issues an airworthiness review authorisation to a candidate, that candidate must perform an airworthiness review under the supervision of the CAA or under the supervision of a person that is already authorised as airworthiness review staff by the organisation. If this airworthiness review under supervision is satisfactory, the CAA may formally accept that candidate to become airworthiness review staff.
The organisation must ensure that the airworthiness review staff can demonstrate appropriate recent continuing airworthiness experience.
Components which are in a satisfactory condition, released on a CAA Form 1 or equivalent and marked in accordance with relevant regulations i.e. part-21 Subpart Q.
CRITICAL MAINTENANCE TASKS
The procedure should ensure that the following maintenance tasks are reviewed to assess their impact on flight safety:
tasks that may affect the control of the aircraft flight path and attitude, such as installation, rigging and adjustments of flight controls;
aircraft stability control systems (autopilot, fuel transfer);
tasks that may affect the propulsive force of the aircraft, including installation of aircraft engines, propellers and rotors; and
overhaul, calibration or rigging of engines, propellers, transmissions and gearboxes.
When an aircraft is grounded at a location other than the main line station or main maintenance base due to the non-availability of a component with the appropriate release certificate, it is permissible to temporarily fit a component without the appropriate release certificate for a maximum of 30 flight hours or until the aircraft first returns to the main line station or main maintenance base, whichever is the sooner, subject to the aircraft operator agreement and said component having a suitable release certificate but otherwise in compliance with all applicable maintenance and operational requirements
Occurrence reporting
The organisation shall report to the CAA , the state of registry and the organisation responsible for the design of the aircraft or component any condition of the aircraft or component identified by the organisation that has resulted or may result in an unsafe condition that hazards seriously the flight safety.
The organisation shall produce and submit such reports as soon as practicable but in any case within 72 hours of the organisation identifying the condition to which the report relates.
The organisation shall notify the CAA of any proposal to carry out any of the following changes before such changes take place to enable the CAA to determine continued compliance with this Part and to amend, if necessary, the approval certificate, except that in the case of proposed changes in personnel not known to the management beforehand, these changes must be notified at the earliest opportunity:
the name of the organisation;
the main location of the organisation;
additional locations of the organisation;
the accountable manager;
any of the persons nominated under point 145.A.30(b);
the facilities, equipment, tools, material, procedures, work scope, certifying staff and airworthiness review staff that could affect the approval.
145.A.90 Continued Validity
The organisation’s certificate must remain valid, subject to compliance with all of the following conditions:
the organisation remaining in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, taking into account the provisions of point 145.B.350 (handling of findings and corrective actions; observations);
the CAA being granted access to the organisation as specified in point 145.A.140;
the certificate not being surrendered by the organisation, or suspended or revoked by the CAA.
Upon surrender or revocation, the certificate must be returned to the CAA without delay.
145.A.95 Findings and observations
After the receipt of a notification of findings, the organisation must:
After the receipt of a notification of findings, the organisation must:
identify the root cause of, and any contributing factors to, the non-compliance;
define a corrective action plan;
demonstrate the implementation of corrective action to the satisfaction of the CAA.
The actions referred to in point (a) must be performed within the period agreed with the CAA.
The observations received in accordance with point 145.B.350(e) must be given due consideration by the organisation. The organisation must record the decisions taken in respect of those observations.
Finding levels under 145.B.350 -
A level 1 finding is any finding of significant non-compliance with the requirements of this Annex which lowers the safety standard and seriously endangers flight safety.
A level 2 finding is any finding of non-compliance with the requirements of this Annex which may lower the safety standard and may endanger flight safety.
Means of compliance
An organisation may use any alternative means of compliance to establish compliance with this Regulation.
If an organisation wishes to use an alternative means of compliance, it must, prior to using it, provide the CAA with a full description. The description must include any revisions to manuals or procedures that may be relevant, as well as an explanation indicating how compliance with this Regulation is achieved. The organisation may use those alternative means of compliance subject to prior approval from the CAA.
Access
For the purpose of determining compliance with the relevant requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, the organisation must ensure that access to any facility, aircraft, document, records, data, procedures or to any other material relevant to its activity subject to certification, whether it is subcontracted or not, is granted to any person authorised by the CAA.
Immediate reaction to a safety problem
The organisation must implement:
any safety measures mandated by the CAA in accordance with point 145.B.135 (CAA’s Immediate reaction to a safety problem);
any relevant mandatory safety information issued by the CAA.
The organisation must establish, implement and maintain a management system that includes:
clearly defined accountability and lines of responsibility throughout the organisation, including a direct safety accountability of the accountable manager;
The management system must correspond to the size of the organisation and the nature and complexity of its activities, taking into account the hazards and the associated risks inherent in those activities.
If the organisation holds one or more additional organisation certificates within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, the management system may be integrated with that required under the additional certificates held.
The organisation must ensure that when contracting or subcontracting any part of its maintenance activities:
the maintenance conforms to the applicable requirements;
any aviation safety hazard associated with such contracting or subcontracting is considered as part of the organisation’s management system.
If the organisation subcontracts any part of its maintenance activities to another organisation, the subcontracted organisation must work under the scope of approval of the subcontracting organisation.
Part-M Subpart F regulations are no longer in use with effect from 24 March 2022. It has been replaced by Annex Vd (Part-CAO)
This Subpart establishes the requirements to be met by an organisation to qualify for the issue or continuation of an approval for the maintenance of aircraft other than complex motor powered aircraft and components to be installed therein not used by licenced air carriers in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008.
PART M
M.A.602 Application
An application for issue or change of a maintenance organisation approval shall be made on a form and in a manner established by the CAA.
An organisation involved in activities subject to this Subpart shall not exercise its activities unless approved by the CAA. To that aim, the CAA shall use the template set out in Appendix V
An organisation involved in activities subject to this Subpart shall not exercise its activities unless approved by the CAA. To that aim, the CAA shall use the template set out in Appendix V
Appendix IV to this AMC provides an outline of the format of an acceptable maintenance organisation manual for a small organisation with less than 10 maintenance staff.
The maintenance organisation exposition as specified in Part-145 provides an outline of the format of an acceptable maintenance organisation manual for larger organisations with more than 10 maintenance staff, dependent upon the complexity of the organisation.
All maintenance shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of Part-M Subpart D or Subpart D Part-ML depending on aircraft type.
Upon completion of all required aircraft maintenance in accordance with this Subpart, an aircraft CRS shall be issued in accordance with point M.A.801 of this Annex or point ML.A.801 of Annex Vb (Part-ML), as set out in Article 3 paragraph 1.
Any aircraft component must have a valid Certificate of Release to Service before it is allowed to be fitted to an aircraft. The exception to this requirement is any component manufactured locally under Part-M approval. The CRS for a component is found on the CAA Form 1 which is the Authorised Release Certificate.
The component CRS document, CAA Form 1, may be generated from a computer system.
The approved maintenance organisation shall retain a copy of all maintenance records and any associated maintenance data for three years from the date the aircraft or aircraft component to which the work relates was released from the approved maintenance organisation. In addition, it shall retain a copy of all the records related to the issue of airworthiness review certificates for three years from the date of issue and shall provide a copy of them to the owner of the aircraft.
The records under this point shall be stored in a manner that ensures protection from damage, alteration, and theft.
All computer hardware used to ensure backup shall be stored in a different location from that containing the working data in an environment that ensures they remain in good condition.
Where an approved maintenance organisation terminates its operation, all retained maintenance records covering the last three years shall be distributed to the last owner or customer of the respective aircraft or component or shall be stored as specified by the CAA.
Part M outlines the importance of maintaining airworthiness. subpart F focuses on ;
- Maintenance procedures
- record keeping
- personnel qualifications
what is the minimum age for approved certifying staff and support staff
21 years old
in the event that the organisation is found to lack an accountable manager, what might the authority issue
a level 1 finding
if an aircraft is grounded at a location other than the main base where no appropriate certifying staff are available, who may issue a one-off certification authorisation
the company’s quality department
