Aviation Maintenance Control System

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This page is another example of creating a separate module in ADempiere.

The purpose of the new module is to support an aircraft operator in the control of the maintenance activities in this highly regulated industry. It builds upon the maintenance module proposed for other vehicles but is more specific in the requirements to meet industry standards and provide regulatory compliance. It is based on Transport Canada requirements for maintenance control systems as specified in the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs). In general, the system must track the maintenance performed on aircraft and aircraft components and ensure that all required inspections are performed in a timely manner, that all airworthiness directives and service bulletins are tracked and performed on their schedules, that faults are repaired or deferred and that deferred defects are eventually repaired. Aircraft are removed from service if a defect is found or if any inspection item is due based on the usage of the aircraft or the calendar date. All required work to return the aircraft to service is recorded as line items in a work order which is provided to the maintenance department or AMO. The line items may contain checklists for inspections or other specific instructions that can be many pages in length. The AMO will use this work order to perform the maintenance task, adding additional lines to the work order for sub-tasks or faults found.

Regulatory Requirements

Under Transport Canada Canadian Aviation Regualations, the performance of maintenance activities falls under two categories - maintenance at Flight Training Units (Section IV) and at Air Operators (Section VII).

For Flight Training Units:

The key requirements of the Maintenance Control System are highlighted in Standard 426.37 as follows:

(1) There shall be sufficient staff for:
(a) the initial development of the maintenance schedule as required by Section 605.86 - Maintenance Schedule;
(b) the scheduling and performance of maintenance, elementary work and servicing within the time constraints specified in the approved maintenance schedule;
(c) the scheduling of the accomplishment of applicable Airworthiness Directives;
(d) the operation of the evaluation program required by Section 406.47;
(e) the proper dispatch of aircraft in regard to:
(i) the availability of spare parts and the control of defects,
(ii) the conformity of aircraft with their type design, and
(iii) the requirements of other applicable operating rules;
(f) the management of issuance of authorizations to personnel who are assigned to perform elementary work and servicing;
(g) the liaison with approved maintenance organizations for the performance of maintenance; and
(h) the initial development and the updating of the maintenance control manual.
(2) There shall be facilities, technical and regulatory data, supplies and spare parts, which shall include:
(a) a place of business, with a fixed address;
(b) a means of communication, such as telephone, facsimile machine, Telex, etc.;
(c) devices used to establish when a particular aircraft requires maintenance, which may include planning bulletin boards, card files, or a computer system;
(d) where the flight training unit performs elementary work or servicing, equipment and tools necessary to comply with Section 571.02  ;- Maintenance Performance Rules;
(e) sufficient supplies and spare parts to ensure timely rectification of defects in regard to MEL provisions; and
(f) a secure, dry storage area to retain aircraft technical records.

By creating an efficient computer based system to control information and processes, the overall number of staff required to manage the above processes can be reduced, the quality of the processes improved and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the maintenance will be enhanced.

Software Requirements

Reporting and Processes

From these requirements, the following list of reports and processes will be required

  • The list of aircraft with all details about them. Specifically:
    • Call sign
    • Aircraft make, model and serial number
    • Total airframe time
    • Owner
    • Lease terms if any, with expiry date
    • Insurance expiry date
    • Average fuel consumption
    • Date/Time of the last inspection
    • Date/Time the next inspection will be due
    • Any open defects that render the aircraft unserviceable
    • Any pending inspection items that render the aircraft unserviceable
    • Any deferred defects on the aircraft
  • Logs of all the flight activity for these aircraft
  • A list of serviceable aircraft
  • A list of unserviceable aircraft along with their expected time of repair
  • A master list of deferred defects by aircraft across the fleet with details about the defect, when it was discovered, when it was deferred, by which authority it was deferred and its date of eventual repair and the work order reference.
  • A list of faults found classified by how the fault was discovered, the fault type, effected system and aircraft type with links to the flight records and the rectification performed with work order reference
  • An analysis of the faults found to determine if there are any recurring trends where recurring is determined by three similar occurrences in the preceding 15 days or 30 hours. This is used to trigger a more detailed investigation.
  • A list of all the inspections performed by date and usage with references to the work orders.
  • A list of all Airworthiness Directives (ADs) and Service Bulletins (SBs) in the system to cross check with the regulator's list.
  • A list of all ADs and SBs applicable to each aircraft, the date(s) on which the directive was followed with the associated work order reference.
  • A list of faults that have to be repaired, when, how and by whom the fault was found/reported.
  • A list of nice to have repairs that are not critical to flight safety and that can be added to work orders as time and money allow.
  • Training records for all the maintenance personnel showing who has what training and when the training will expire.
  • A list of the training requirements for the next 60 days.
  • A forecasting tool to predict or show the expected time to inspection by calendar date or usage for the entire fleet (a waterfall diagram)
  • A method of creating a work order and the associated lines based on the existing faults, deferred defects, nice to have repairs, inspection items and due ADs or SBs. When printed, the WO should include all necessary supporting forms and checklists.
  • A list of outstanding work orders and their expected time to completion - the time the aircraft will be returned to service
  • Aircraft time tracking
  • Component time tracking and history of movements and installations/removals from planes to repair and back other aircraft. This is a sufficiently complex problem that it warrants is own page: Component Tracking
  • Inventory of spare parts, methods of ordering, receiving and stocking parts
  • Tool control with identification of tools by serial number and assignment to specific tool boxes.
  • Procedures for the maintenance of tools for calibration, repair and replacement.

Database Requirements

The following tables are required

  • Aircraft - a list of the aircraft with specifics related. The Aircraft are resource products in ADempiere but an additional table will be used to expand on the specific information, linked to the resources by S_Resource_ID
  • Components - a list of components with all their identifying information. These may be products with specific attribute instances.
  • Component History - a list of all the movements of components from when they were first received, showing all installations and removals, repairs and finally end of life. May be connected with material movements, inventory and BOMs.
  • Flight Log - a detailed list of all the flight activity for each aircraft. Every single takeoff-landing pair is a row in this table. The air time amounts from the Flight Log are used to determine the usage on components and the aircraft for maintenance purposes
  • Inspection Items - a list of all the inspection items and their associated controls and applicability. This includes periodic inspections, airworthiness directives, service bulletins etc...
  • Inspection Item Applicability - a list of the aircraft or components that an inspection item applies to.
  • Inspection History - a list of when the inspection item requirements where performed on an aircraft.
  • Establish aircraft BOMs that show the particular attribute instances that are installed on a particular aircraft

Process Requirements

  • Identifying an inspection item and setting its applicability. The inspection item entry is straight forward data entry. Identifying applicability can be involved as it may be by make, model number or a serial number range. It can also apply only to aircraft with specific components installed. An automated approached would be simple to handle cases where a simple range or model number could be matched by query to determine applicability. This would need to happen when the inspection item was entered but also when new aircraft or components were added to the system.
    • Requirement - process on addition of inspection item to automatically determine applicability.
    • Requirement - process on addition of a component to automatically determine applicability of existing inspection items and start the history.
    • Requirement - a manual process to select the inspection items that are applicable to a component or aircraft or to select the applicable components and aircraft for a particular inspection item. (This can be handled by tabs in two windows).
  • Setting the opening inspection history. With aircraft that are 30 or more years old, the automated records will start at a point in time. The inspection history to that point needs to be summarized in a "opening balance" or some sort.
  • Add, remove, replace components from an aircraft or component. For example engine serial number 123445 with 1567 hours use was removed from aircraft ABCD at time 15873.2. Overhauled engine serial number 23456623 installed. Engine 123445 #1 cylinder serial number 3456 removed and tagged U/S and placed in bonded stores. New cylinder serial number 65432 installed and engine placed in stores. The aircraft needs to show the new engine is installed. Times flown since the repair need to be applied to the new engine. Provisions of overhaul need to be updated to reflect the change. The history of time on the old engine now in stores should remain but the new cylinder will show zero time.
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