AME Licensing, Privileges and Limitations
What this domain tests
This section examines the aircraft maintenance engineer licence under PNG CAR Part 66: eligibility, knowledge and experience requirements, licence categories and type ratings, and the precise scope of certification privileges. The exam expects you to distinguish the licence from the rating and from the employer's authorisation. A licence alone does not authorise every task on every aircraft.
Privileges and limits
- Part 66 typically uses categories such as A, B1, B2 and C, with type ratings for specific aircraft.
- A B1 licence generally covers mechanical and structural certification within the type rating; B2 covers avionics; C covers base maintenance certification within its scope.
- Privileges are limited to the category, type rating and any endorsements or limitations stated on the licence.
- Certification requires current knowledge, access to approved data and compliance with the maintenance organisation's procedures.
- The licence holder must not certify work they did not inspect or supervise as required.
Worked example
A B2 licensed engineer inspects and certifies an avionics wiring repair on a type-rated aircraft. The task is within the B2 category and the approved data. The same engineer is asked to sign off a structural skin repair. That is outside the B2 privilege unless a separate category or authorisation permits it. The engineer must decline and route the task to a suitably rated B1 or other authorised person.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing a licence category with a type rating; assuming a rating covers all variants; signing for work not personally inspected; relying on an expired or suspended licence; and forgetting that the maintenance organisation's authorisation can be narrower than the licence.