AIRWORTHINESS - The Fundamental Tool

Mark · Joined: Nov 21, 2003 Posts: 17 Location: USA

It is my experience, having first worked on airplanes 38 years ago, that there is much opinion and woefully little fact regarding the requirements for maintaining aircraft in airworthy condition.

Searching for guiding source data became a lifelong quest. There were many, seemingly contradictory, requirements. My career took a few turns which brought me to my goal.

For all of us that design, manufacture, maintain, modify, and operate commercial / civil aircraft, the fundamental guiding concept, requirement in law actually, is the term AIRWORTHY.

A commercial / civil aircraft cannot be operated unless it is airworthy. The maintenance we perform must result in the aircraft being airworthy (before the aircraft can "operate" again). Aircraft are designed and built to airworthiness standards.

The fundamental tool we all need to know and understand is the comprehensive meaning of airworthiness. We all have at least some, often vague, understanding of airworthiness, but it is a term that is defined precisely in law (US 14CFR), and is not subject to interpretation, contrary to generally accepted wisdom.

When all of us involved in commercial / civil aviation have a clear understanding of what airworthy means, commercial / civil air transportion (touted, aguably, as the safest mode of transportation in the history of the world) will be safer, and all our jobs will become much easier, and the process of maintaining aircraft will become more efficient and cost effective, and we will be much less liable to be named in lawsuits, and much less likely to be subject to criminal proceedings as scapegoats for corporate management (like the unfortunate SabreTech technicians following the ValuJet Flight 592 accident of May 11, 1996).
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Mark E.J. Fay

planedoctor · Joined: Oct 08, 2002 Posts: 306

Welcome to the site, Mark.

Returning a airworthy aircraft is indeed how we make our money, but more important then that it's what the majority of us are in this field for: The love of fixing an aircraft and making it Airworthy.

Yes, it's true there are some mechanics out there that don't care about the quality of work they provide. Most however genually care that the aircraft be returned in the best condition available.

In every type of business there are short cuts to getting the job done. Aviation in not exempt from this. Management is always looking to lower their bottom line. It's the technicians on the floor's responsibility to REFUSE to do shady work.

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Mark · Joined: Nov 21, 2003 Posts: 17 Location: USA

Thanks, Planedoctor. It's good to be here.

Making money, our livelihood, by ensuring that the aircraft we work on are airworthy is a good and honorable, even a noble, profession.

I would like to believe that we are all in aviation because we choose to be, because we love it. It is, for many of us, a calling.

My concerns are about management pressuring us to cut corners, to accept and even perform less than acceptable work - under threat (implied or expressed) of loss of job, income, livelihood.

You say that "It's the technicians on the floor's responsibility to REFUSE to do shady work." I agree. My mission is to help educate those technicians to know what is airworthy work and what is shoddy work.
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Mark E.J. Fay

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