Avionics News November 2014 - 15

But in the event the relief does not come before
Nov. 10, every maintenance action accomplished by a repair
station other than installations and inspections must be
reported to the FAA via the service difficulty report.

training topics of Advisory Circular 145-10 into section
145.163; and a mandatory periodic review of the capability list.
The proposal for supervisory personnel raises an
unusual issue. There are very few areas where advisory
circulars and policies are contrary to the regulation.
But in the case of supervisory personnel, the FAA's AC
145-9 Change 1 took exceptional literary license in the
definition section by suggesting that a supervisor must
be present for all work (which is also what was proposed in the failed NPRM).
Supervisor. A person who directs the work performed under the repair station's certificate and
OpSpecs and is available in person at the repair
station when work is being performed.
However, the actual regulation that was processed,
according to the APA, does not include the "is available in person at the repair station when work is being
performed" language of the advisory circular. In fact,
the regulation (Section 145.153 (a)) states, "The supervisors must oversee the work performed by any individuals who are unfamiliar with the methods, techniques,
practices, aids, equipment and tools used to perform the
maintenance, preventive maintenance or alterations."
It is reasonable that "if" a supervisor must oversee the
work by someone who is not qualified to do the work
without supervision, they should be on-site; however, it
is not reasonable that work being performed by a qualified technician require direct "on-site" supervision. This
simply is not supported by regulation.
While the repair station rulemaking is a success story
of public comment, the Repair Station Final Rule does
contain some elements that are critical and deserve
mention. We will highlight the changes; however, AEA
members are encouraged to read the following sections
of the repair station regulations (14 CFR Part 145).
New to the regulations is § 145.12 Repair station
records: falsification, reproduction, alteration or omis-

sion. This section follows a similar section in Part
43 that deals with maintenance records: falsification,
reproduction or alteration. The added requirement in the
repair station regulation includes repair station documentation as well as maintenance records. The rule is
simple: Don't lie in what you say or what you don't say.
The penalty for lying is severe:
§ 145.12 (c) The commission by any person of an
act prohibited under paragraphs (a) or (b) of this
section is a basis for any one or any combination of
the following:
(1) Suspending or revoking the repair station certificate and any certificate, approval or
authorization issued by the FAA and held by
that person.
(2) A civil penalty.
(3) The denial of an application under this Part.
The section that affects the application for certificate
(§ 145.51) contains a few administrative changes that
are relatively routine but also includes a controversial
section 145.51 (e):
The FAA may deny an application for a repair
station certificate if the FAA finds that: (1) The
applicant holds a repair station certificate in the
process of being revoked, or previously held a
repair station certificate that was revoked; (2)
The applicant intends to fill or fills a management position with an individual who exercised
control over or who held the same or a similar
position with a certificate holder whose repair
station certificate was revoked, or is in the process of being revoked, and that individual materially contributed to the circumstances causing the
revocation or causing the revocation process; or
(3) An individual who will have control over or
substantial ownership interest in the applicant
Continued on page 57
avionics news

november

2014

Avionics News November 2014

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