Airworthiness, Maintenance Programmes and Continuing Airworthiness
What this domain tests
This domain covers how an aircraft remains airworthy after certification: the certificate of airworthiness, approved maintenance programmes, airworthiness directives, repairs and modifications, defect control, mass and balance, and records. It links PNG CAR Parts 21, 43, 91, 121, 135 and 145. The key idea is continuing airworthiness as an ongoing operator responsibility, not a one-off inspection.
Core requirements
- The aircraft must have a valid certificate of airworthiness and be maintained under an approved programme.
- Airworthiness directives must be accomplished within the required time; service bulletins are mandatory only when made so by an AD, the programme or a rule.
- Repairs and modifications require approved data and appropriate certification under Part 21.
- Defects must be recorded, assessed and controlled; the MEL is not a tool for deferring maintenance that the rules require.
- Maintenance records must be traceable to the task, person and approved data.
Worked example
An operator's maintenance programme omits a repetitive inspection required by a new airworthiness directive. The AD is mandatory and the omission does not excuse compliance. The operator must amend the programme, accomplish the inspection within the AD's compliance time, record the action and update the continuing airworthiness records before further flight if the AD so requires.
Traps that cost marks
Treating all service bulletins as mandatory; using the MEL to defer a maintenance task; assuming a repair approval covers a different modification; and failing to connect the maintenance programme, AD status and certificate of airworthiness.