Type rating, currency and an unfamiliar float installation
You hold a New Zealand AME licence with airframe and powerplant ratings and a type rating for the Cessna 208 Caravan with the PT6A-114A engine. For the last 30 months you have worked in the stores department and have certified no maintenance at all. Your employer, a Part 145 organisation, is short-staffed and asks you on Monday to certify a 200-hour inspection on a Caravan that is fitted with Wipaire amphibious floats. You have never worked on a float-equipped Caravan. The organisation's authorisation list still shows your name against "C208". The inspection work was done mainly by a newly hired engineer whose licence application is still with the CAA; he has signed the work cards. The customer wants the aircraft released for a Part 135 scheduled service that afternoon. You feel rusty on the Caravan fuel system and have not read the float rigging procedures.
1. What must you verify about your own licence and authorisation before you certify anything on this aircraft?
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Separate the licence from the organisation's authorisation, because both must be in place. On the licence side, check that the type rating actually covers this aircraft - the exact model and engine variant, and whether the rating carries any remarks or limitations. Float installations are frequently covered by the basic type rating but can require additional training or a specific endorsement, so read the licence conditions and the type certificate/float STC documentation rather than assuming. Also check whether Part 66 imposes a recent-experience or currency requirement for exercising the privileges; 30 months away from certifying is exactly the situation such rules target, and the answer may be that you must regain experience under supervision before certifying unsupervised.
On the organisation side, check that your authorisation is current for this aircraft and this inspection, and that it was not suspended when you moved to stores. An old entry on an authorisation list is not evidence that the quality system still intends you to certify. If either the licence scope or the authorisation is doubtful, you cannot certify until it is resolved.
2. May you certify work performed by the unlicensed new engineer, and what does that depend on?
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Possibly, but only on a proper basis. The rules allow an appropriately licensed and authorised person to certify maintenance carried out by others where that person has the knowledge to take responsibility - typically through direct supervision, inspection of the work, and completion of all required checks. What is not permitted is certifying as a rubber stamp for work you did not see and cannot assess.
Practical checks: are the work cards complete and signed by the person who did each task; is there a record of the supervision arrangements; are there tasks requiring duplicate or independent inspection; has the 200-hour inspection included the operational checks and servicing items; and is the new engineer working under a documented supervision arrangement while his licence application is pending? If the work was done without any licensed supervision, the inspection itself may be unreliable and you may need to repeat or verify significant portions. Given your own 30-month gap, adding an unfamiliar float-equipped aircraft on top of work performed by an unsupervised new engineer is a combination that no quality system should accept on a Monday afternoon.
3. How should you handle the float installation and the customer's deadline?
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Treat the float installation as a competence question, not a paperwork question. Review the float manufacturer's maintenance and rigging data, the relevant service information, and the inspection items specific to the floats - attach fittings, struts, water rudder, and any corrosion-prone areas. If the organisation's authorisation does not clearly cover float-equipped aircraft and you have no recent float experience, the honest answer is that you are not competent to certify this inspection today and it should go to someone who is, or you should complete the work under supervision until you are.
On the deadline: the Part 135 operator's schedule is not a reason to release an aircraft you cannot properly certify. Tell the operator early so it can reposition aircraft or cancel, and record the reason. Do not sign a release "subject to" reading the manuals later; a maintenance release is a statement of fact at the time it is made. If the aircraft is already out of a maintenance release, it should not fly until a valid one is issued.