Progressive Inspections (1 of 2) -- Why progressives?

An owner/operator of an aircraft can fulfill the requirements under CFR 14 FAR part 43, appendix D by having a maintenance and inspection done once a year, known as an annual, by an airframe and powerplant mechanic with inspection authorization. I'll be writing about annual inspections a little later. For now, I'll say that the FAA requires that the annual inspection be done at the end of the twelfth month following the last annual. So, if the last annual was done on Dec. 5, 2010 the next annual is due on or before Dec. 31, 2011.

An annual inspection for a Cessna trainer or similar general aviation aircraft might mean that the aircraft will be out of service for two or three days. The more complex the aircraft systems (including multiple engines), the longer the annual will take and the longer the aircraft will be out of service. For example, I suspect that the multi-engine airplanes used as tankers may be out of service for at least one month.

A private pilot who owns their own plane for personal or recreational use, either individually or in partnership, can often live with having their aircraft out of service, even if the inspection requires a longer period of time. But take an operator that has a business requiring almost constant use of their aircraft, even seasonally. In the tanker business, taking one aircraft out of service for a couple of weeks, means that aircraft can not be used on a fire. Moreover, the operator loses money.

Another example would be aircraft used for surveillance where at least one aircraft has to be in the air 8 to 10 hours a day. Or perhaps a charter/air taxi operation has a few single and twin-engined aircraft used for charter operations, they need all or most of their aircraft in the air every day. Then there are freight operations, even those using smaller aircraft. It is situations like these where progressive inspections are more suitable to meet the requirements of FAR part 43 appendix D. I wrote here that under a progressive inspection program, the aircraft is out of service for shorter periods of time, where the maintenance and inspection tasks required to be completed in a twelve month period are broken down into three or four tasks.

An aircraft owner/operator who is interested in progressive inspections starts by obtaining the maintenance and inspection procedures from the aircraft's manufacturers if they don't already have them. The manufacturer probably already has procedures spelled out for progressives and will work with the owner-operator to come up with a good progressive inspection program for their aircraft. It doesn't stop here, the FAA must sign off on the progressive inspection program.

Stay tuned for my next article, posting on January 17, where I will continue to write about what might happen in a progressive inspection program.