Avionics News June 2016 - 13

Tim Shaver, manager of the Aircraft
Maintenance Division (AFS-300),
addresses the audience at this year's
regulatory leadership panel during
the AEA Convention.

hibitions regarding this work. The FAA stated that "Because
Part 145 specifically does not apply to certain experimental
aircraft, neither does the prohibition in § 145.201(b), that no
repair station may 'maintain or alter any article for which it is
not rated.'"
Specific to the AEA's question, the FAA concluded that "We
have identified no FAA regulations, including § 145.201(b),
that would prohibit a certificated repair station from performing maintenance for an owner or operator who seeks to bring
an experimental aircraft into compliance with §§ 91.411 &
91.413."
For years, the AEA has promoted the use of special operation specification language to address those EAB aircraft that
might be outside the scope of Part 43. Based on this legal interpretation, those ops specs are no longer needed.
The Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between the U.S.
and the European Union had two major revisions in September
2015. On Sept. 9, the maintenance annex guidance was revised
to Change 5, and followed on Sept. 15 where the technical
implementation procedures for airworthiness and environmental certification was revised to Revision 5. While there were
numerous changes within these revisions, there were two specific issues that the AEA's Rise & Shine sessions focused. In
the MAG revision was the recent changes requiring U.S.-based
EASA repair stations to comply with European traceability
requirements for the EASA return to service. This has caused a
significant challenge for many of the U.S.-based EASA repair

stations. In many cases, the repair stations holding multiple certificates may be required to have parallel receiving inspections
(one for the FAA certificate and a parallel system for non-FAA
certificates) because of the non-harmonized traceability standards.
In the TIP revision, the authorities broke down barriers for
the cross-Atlantic sales and distribution of parts. Under the
latest revision, the FAA accepts European ETSO articles for
installation in U.S.-registered aircraft as well as the EASA's
acceptance of FAA TSO approved articles to be installed in
European-registered aircraft. This change eliminates the unnecessary and often redundant approval of articles produced and
certified to harmonized standards.
FAA Order 8000.373 sets the FAA compliance philosophy as the overarching guidance for implementing the FAA's
safety oversight approach to, as they say, "meet the challenges
of today's rapidly changing aerospace system." The FAA
acknowledges that the safety system is largely based on, and
dependent upon, voluntary compliance with these regulatory
standards. We know that a major element of a robust safety system is an open communication regarding incidents and potential risks. This "new" philosophy is intended to promote open
communication and active risk management.
And finally, we reviewed the revision of airworthiness
standards for normal, utility, acrobatic and commuter category
Continued on page 72
avionics news

june

2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News June 2016