A Few Words On TSO Tags FYI

Bad Fuel Samples FYI

The Time is Now

     There are few that would argue the current economical climate in aviation, is extremely challenging, and there doesn’t appear to be an immediate turn around on the horizon. Rising fuel costs which translate into increased transportation cost has forced the traveling community to reevaluate alternative methods of doing business and communicating with colleagues and clients. Technology such as Skype, and “Go To Meeting” has become more commonplace in the business platform, and as these technologies continue to advance, air-travel may rapidly become more of a last resort option.

 

Additionally, the regulatory agencies that govern and regulate aviation seem to be aggressively instituting more mandates and policy that places further financial burdens on aviation organizations. Too often they fail to recognize and respect the fact that their burdens, even though they may be administrative in nature, come at a cost to aviation organizations. The time and resources the government employees have to generate burdens on the business sector is substantially greater than we have available to support or defend.

 

We could elect to remain steadfast in our perceptions “We don’t have time to the fix the hole in the bottom of our boat, because we are too busy scooping out the water.” The inexperienced might think that hole will fix itself, but the wise realize with time, we are going to need more scoopers or a bigger bucket.

 

The aviation business environment has changed, and our only viable defense is to redesign and reengineer an aggressive offense. Not only are we required to think differently, we are required to function differently. In its simplest form, if it fails to yield a return on investment, or does not reduce risk, it is waste. And to survive, we are now forced to eliminate waste.

 

There are three components that must be designed and engineered into literally every sector of our business model:

1. Return on Investment
2. Risk Reduction
3. Waste Elimination

 

Regardless if we call a meeting, order a part, or perform an inspection, we should automatically assume there is a smarter more efficient, effective way of doing business, while simultaneously reducing risk.

 

Each of us within the organization possesses a responsibility of Return on Investment, Risk Reduction, and Waste Elimination. We are all aware there is power in numbers, and the more each individual within the organization is pursuant to the three components mentioned above, the greater the whole. In retrospect, one can argue, without clear concise targets defined, and the organization working in unison, the probability of achieving those targets is fundamentally nonexistent.

 

We have more than an opportunity, we have a requirement, to redesign and reengineer greater magnitude of efficiencies throughout our entire business platform. Despite the monetary value of our aircraft, our facilities, or our tooling, our greatest resource remains a knowledgeable and capable workforce with true leadership at the helm.

 

This type of undertaking is not the job of “Spreadsheet Manager”, but that of a true Leader. Only a sincere and dedicated Leader driven by the desire to improve can generate the momentum required to inspire each and every employee to achieve greater efficiency, risk reduction, and waste elimination.

 

For several decades we have seen the results of such campaigns. The auto manufacturers of the Pacific Rim all initially introduced substandard products. However, through a consistent and vibrant culture of process improvement, their manufacturing processes, and the quality of their products have become the standards.

 

Personally, I believe we have some of the greatest minds in world right here in the aircraft maintenance industry. I am not aware of another industry as whole, which has a stronger sense of conviction. And by the pure nature of our business, we are the masters of troubleshooting and problem solving.

 

I do believe we have a certain percentage of our true Leaders that have been chocked down to “Spreadsheet Managers” by the “Harvard Bean Counters” in our industry. And I further believe it’s time we hit the minimize button on the spreadsheet, and become Leaders again, redesigning and engineering efficiencies into our business, mitigating risk, and eliminating waste.

 

The “Efficiency Leaders” will be the survivors in our industry, and although still steadily and franticly scooping out that water, history is not on the side of the inefficient, high risk, and wasteful organizations.

You Got the Power

I know this may sound a little morbid, but I have always enjoyed reading and attempting to actually understand the Federal Aviation Regulations. I have found that reading a particular regulation typically requires reading it several times, and NOT putting any conjecture into the text.

I am not completely convinced most technicians truly understand the enormous responsibility they possess when it comes to performing an Annual or 100 hour inspection. The only difference between the Annual and 100 hour inspection is who can sign it off. Obviously, you must be in possession of a current Inspection Authorization to sign off the Annual Inspection. Nevertheless, allow me to bring attention to FAR 91.409, paragraph (a). This small yet powerful FAR provides the owner/operator a choice between having an Annual Inspection performed within the proceeding 12 calendar months, OR the inspection for issuance of an airworthiness certificate in accordance with FAR 21.

This little paragraph in FAR 91 tells me the inspection to issue an airworthiness certificate, and an Annual Inspection is identical. If you have ever accompanied a Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) around the effort to get an Airworthiness Certificate, you know those DAR’s don’t pass out Airworthiness Certificates like a brand new Airworthiness Inspector with his first box of business cards. That’s pretty serious business to get an Airworthiness Certificate, yet this regulation is clearly advising us the efforts are identical. And as we mentioned before, the only difference between the Annual Inspection and 100 hour inspection is who can sign off the inspection; would that not lead us to believe the 100 hour inspection effort is identical to the inspection for the issuance of an Airworthiness Certificate?

If we look at the importance of the Annual and 100 hour inspection from another angle, and that is the sheer volume of text the FAA has dedicated to describe in innate detail how to perform the Annual and 100 hour inspection; when compared to other regulations in the FAR’s, it appears based on sheer volume of text, they are pretty serious about the importance of the Annual and 100 hour inspection.

Additionally, we are required by FAR 43.15 (c) (1), to use a checklist when performing an Annual or 100 hour inspection. They even go as far as to provide a Checklist in Appendix D, of FAR 43. There again, given the fact we are required by regulation to use a checklist while performing the inspection, and the fact they provide a checklist, I’m convinced, this Annual and 100 hour inspection must play an important role in the Safety of Flight.

The FAA has gone as far in FAR 43.11 as to provide us an example of the sign off for the Annual/100 hour inspection, and in the example it states we have determined the aircraft is in an airworthy condition. There is a big difference between a “Safe” aircraft, and an “Airworthy” aircraft. Here is an example of the difference: That ballast placard required by FAR 23.1557 is required by FAR. Unless your Airworthiness Certificate under the “Exemptions” section list FAR 23.1557 “Ballast Placard” as an exemption, and your aircraft has ballast locations, then you have to have ballast placards for the aircraft to be considered Airworthy. Would the aircraft fly safely without these placards, probably so, but in our Annual/100 hour sign off, we’re attesting to “Airworthy”.

The Annual/100 hour inspection is a scheduled event. It’s an opportunity to take the aircraft out of service, slow down, and take a very serious look, at not only items of Safety, but items concerning “AIRWORTHIESS”. The checklist contained in Appendix D of FAR 43, is comprehensive if you seriously study the checklist. The effort to establish and determine Airworthiness is equally as comprehensive. The Annual/100 hour inspection is our opportunity to erase all the assumptions and replace them with affirmative validations. Inspect your aircraft, and the items of Airworthiness as if you were going to issue an Airworthiness Certificate.

Please allow me to Thank You for your continued contributions to the Safety of Flight.

People Don’t Plan to Fail, They Fail to Plan

With the current economic conditions, it would be naive to think we aircraft maintenance technicians might be exempt from cutbacks and downsizing. Consequently, if we are impacted by cutbacks or downsizing, replacing employment will as well, be extremely challenging at best. We could sit back and let the cards fall as they will, or we can take action now to prevent or minimize the devastation. It has often been said, people do not plan to fail, they fail to plan.

Quite often we AMT’s may not always be aware just how much our conduct has on the bottom line of our employers. If we order a part in haste, and accidently order the wrong part number, on the surface one might think, “Hey, what’s the big deal, I made a simply mistake”. However, management may not take the same approach if the correct part we should have ordered was in company inventory, yet the incorrect part number that we actually ordered was not in company inventory, and we forced our employer to spend hard to come by liquid assets to purchase a part we will never use. This simple oversight might get further compounded if we are A.O.G. waiting for the wrong part to get in.

The above example illustrates why we must slow down and double check ourselves. Additionally, in such situations it might be prudent to employ “Resource Management” into the equation and consult with our supervision or a technical representative from the manufacture to validate our intended execution is going to be nothing shy of perfect. Considering the financial impact and the down time in the above example, if it took us an additional two hours to validate we ordered the correct part, that two hour investment to validate accuracy would certainly be a wise investment of our time.

In the above paragraph we coined the term “Resource Management”. Accept the fact no one knows everything, and all you know, is all you know, regardless of your experience or years in the business. When we open a maintenance manual, we are employing “Resource Management”, when we ask a co-worker to double check the maintenance we just completed, we are employing Resource Management. Recognizing that Resource Management can become a major weapon in your arsenal against mistakes should force us to appreciate the value of Resource Management. Additionally, we should consistently be looking to expand our library of resources we might need to rely on in the future. Again, remember no one has all the answers, but having a large arsenal of resources, and knowing where to get the answers puts you leagues ahead of the AMT that failed to plan.

It’s a worthwhile education to analyze “Why Did We Order the Wrong Part Number? Was it Complacency? Was it a lack of Situational Awareness?” If we can identify the root cause of our mistakes, this allows us to set up defense mechanisms to prevent their reoccurrence.

Complacency is truly a deadly disease in the aviation industry. Where ever there is complacency in aviation, you will find mistakes. The most frightening aspect of complacency, is the fact that each and every one of us are complacent, now the only question remains, is just how complacent are we? One suggestion to combat complacency is to perform a “Risk Assessment”, to determine if we can afford to be complacent. For example: had we performed a brief “Risk Assessment” as to the possible ramifications of ordering the wrong part number, certainly we would have taken the necessary steps or required time to validate the correct part number was ordered.

Having and developing a keen sense of “Situational Awareness” is crucial to our success as AMT’s. Quite often our environment is designed for failure. If you are behind schedule, consistently pressured to drive harder, constantly interrupted, you are working in a “Target Rick Environment”, and failure in some form is enviable. When you have performed a “Risk Assessment” and you realize the magnitude and consequences of errors, you simply must design, develop, or find a way to ensure your environment is conducive to a successful execution.

There is a huge difference between “Technical Competency” and “Professionalism”. Historically, we have fought diligently to strengthen our knowledge and skills in the “Technical Competency” arena. In today’s economic times we simply must invest both time and energy into enhancing our professionalism as AMT’s. We may possess the “Technical Competency” to order a part, but if we fall short in our “Professionalism” to execute without error, our employer might determine they would be better off without us employed as to minimize these costly mistakes.

It’s pretty exhilarating to pick up several hundred dollars worth of tools off of the tool truck that comes to the hangar. But never in a million years would we consider investing that money into furthering our education. Ask yourself this question, in an interview, what might have more value to you, those wrenches you purchased, or several certificates proving you have invested in your education as an AMT. Will your tool box accompany you in the interview so you can show off your tool box to your potential employer? If your NOT selected for the available position, could it have been because the individual that did get selected had more certificates in their Resume, than you did?

Times are changing, and to keep up with, and stay ahead of the times, we have to educate ourselves. We need training, we need training certificates advertized on our Resumes. We have to position ourselves above the competition. We must invest in our ability to obtain employment, and we must invest in our ability to retain employment.

People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.

Dear Federal Judge

If you have ever attended one of my Inspection Authorization Renewal Seminars you know how I beat our documentation efforts to death. There is a reason for my continual pounding of the documentation drum, it’s because as an industry, we technicians basically hate to document. We don’t write well, we can’t spell, and it is typically the part of the job we hate the most. On the other hand, if there is any one part of our job that will put us in hot water faster and deeper than anything else, it’s the documentation, and generally the lack of documentation.

We wrenches exert a tremendous amount of energy and effort to ensure our aircraft are maintained to the highest standards on the planet. And basically, our safety records clearly illustrates we are maintaining our aircraft to a very high standard. But long after the cowlings are closed, remain the logbooks to be scrutinized for years thereafter. Those logbooks provide tangible evidence of our accomplished maintenance efforts. If our logbook entries are executed with the same quality and precision as our maintenance, we have nothing to worry about, but if we have left something out, we have left a door open for all to see, and that door could get slammed in our face.

Some folks review logbook entries as a reflection of the quality of maintenance we have performed. If our writing is sloppy, they assume our maintenance was sloppy. If we have left out certain data that should have been in the logbook entry, they questions if we missed that step in our maintenance. If our logbook entries are subject to a Federal investigation, now we have invited Federal Attorneys to audit our logbook entries.
Now can you see why I pound the documentation drum so hard? My soul purpose is to try to show and teach you ways to protect yourself. You take a good old wrench busten his butt to keep his machine flying like a home sick angel, just trying to make ends meet, and one logbook entry, yes, one logbook entry, has turned his entire world upside down.

When I start a log book entry, I start off by asking myself: “Dear Federal Judge, what should I put in this logbook entry to cover my #*&@, because I know if this one logbook entry makes it to court you are going to offer me zero, yes, zero slack.” We simply have to assume each and every logbook entry we execute is heading into Federal prosecution.

The general rule of thumb with respect to logbook entries is that if you didn’t include it in your logbook entry it didn’t happen. If you read FAR 43.13, if forces us to use the maintenance manual when we perform maintenance, but there is a modifier in front of the word maintenance manual in that FAR and it is “current”. I would strongly suggest you to include the word “current” just as the FAA did when writing that Regulation. For example: All work performed in accordance with current manufacturers maintenance manuals. And by all means you must ensure you are using the current manufacturers maintenance manuals when performing maintenance. Additionally, if you are installing a part that has been repaired or overhauled by a Repair Station, include the Repair Station number, work order number and date of the work order in your logbook entry. I know this information is included on the 8130-3, but if the 8130-3 gets lost, the pertinent data you need to put the liability back on the Repair Station for their repair or overhaul is included in your logbook entry.

When executing a logbook entry try to complement your professionalism. Allow your logbook entry to stand as tall as the maintenance you just performed. Prepare your logbook entry to enter Federal Prosecution. Work your resources, ask some folks you respect to review and audit your logbook entries, and seek suggestions how to constantly improve.

Documentation may currently be one part of the job you despise, but again, perform a risk assessment to clearly understand the consequences and ramifications of a poorly written logbook entry. To stand at the plateau of a Professional, we must perform all aspects of our job to the very best of our ability. When we possess the willingness and desire to improve, we will improve, and like anything else we do, the more we do it, the better we get at it. Remember that the journey to professionalism never ends.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get, what you’ve always got

Ever had management or a supervisor complaining about the aircraft not getting out on time, and yet when the next one rolls in, were directed to do the same exact things we did on the last aircraft that was late to leave? Have you ever heard crazy defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results?

There is a concept called process improvement that has basically revolutionized the manufacturing industry. Many of you may be too young to remember the first Toyota cars that came to the U.S.. And you might be surprised to know they were junk, poorly manufactured automobiles that had no longevity. Toyota embraced the process improvement concept and today, the quality of their cars, and the size of their company is a direct result of process improvement.

Process improvement is not limited to manufacturers, it’s not a secret club you join, and it is certainly not off limits to aircraft maintenance. It absolutely baffles me why more aircraft maintenance shops and technicians have not been trained in these simply techniques to enhance the safety of aviation through the delivery of a better product, reduce cost, and meet or exceed delivery schedules.

There is a ton of information available on the web, and in your local bookstores. One of the best books I have read on the subject is the Toyota Way. It explains in great detail how Toyota became the giant they are today, and how they will continue to improve their process, because process improvement has become a way of life for the folks at Toyota.

One of the phrases that hit home with me was: “Anywhere we remove waist, we have replaced it with intelligence.” I would strongly urge you saturate yourself for just 30 days, with anything and everything you can on the subject of process improvement. Learn these extremely common sense techniques of process improvement and pick something you want to improve. I promise you, you will be blown away at how simply these techniques are, and how dramatic the improvements. You will be asking yourself, “Why Haven’t I Been Doing This All Along?”

The steps are pretty simply, you select something to improve, say the time it takes to complete a 100 hour inspection. You map out what you are currently doing in pretty good detail. You cannot bypass this step, because when you see it on paper, it clearly shows you where your waist is located. Implement your improvements, and then measure your results. The measurement of your results is very important too, because it proves your changes to be good changes or bad changes.

Let’s look at some of the basic steps in a 100 hour inspection:

• AD & Records Research
• Operational Check of all Systems and Components
• 100 hour Inspection of Airframe
• 100 hour Inspection of Engine
• Engine Power Check or Compression Check
• Order the Parts to Rectify the Discrepancies
• Rectify the Discrepancies

If we were to look at what might set us back as far as time goes, I’m thinking something wrong inside the engine. If something is not up to par inside that engine, we may have to pull the engine, break it down, or send it off, and this eats up time. Doesn’t make much sense to inspect the external parts of the engine (100 hour Engine Inspection) first until we know the guts are good. For this reason, I’m thinking Engine Power Check or Compression Check first. Then possibly the engine AD’s just to make sure there is no reason I am going to have to pull that engine. If the engine is going to get pulled, I am going to want to perform my operational check of all systems and components before the engine gets pulled so I don’t have to wait until the engine gets put back in to identify which components or systems didn’t work.

Knowing the VHF radio doesn’t work properly on the front end causes me to pull the cannon plug on the Receiver/Transmitter (R/T) looking for loose pins, check the ground, and take a closer look at the antenna when I am performing the 100 hour airframe inspection. Likewise, I am going to want to get all my parts on order as soon as possible, so I am not ordering parts in the 11th hour of this effort. Meaning I want to inspect the cowlings as I take them off, instead of finding discrepancies when it’s time to put them back on.

Nothing says you have to inspect the aircraft or engine in the exact order as it is written on the checklist. You can inspect in the order of probability of defects, and inspect in the order of; if a defect is found what would cause the greatest time delay in getting parts on hand or repaired. The objective is to try to get the biggest and the ugliest identified first. This allows you to manage the rest of the effort around them.
The real magic to process improvement is that you do it over and over again, further refining each and every step you take to remove waist and replace it with intelligence. There is a tremendous value to a Technician possessing and employing the skills of process improvement into their daily activity. Whether you are looking for advancement or looking to be a better wrench, having process improvement skills in the tool box that sits a top of your shoulders will get ya there a lot faster.