COMPLIANCE MATTERS
ARE SERVICE BULLETINS MANDATORY OR NOT?!
By Joe Hertzler I
’ve been asked an age-old question several times recently: “Are service bulletins mandatory?” There are as many opinions about this question as there are FAA safety inspectors (but I encourage you to know the
answer to this question without asking your FAA inspector). It truly depends on the service bulletin itself and the rules to which it relates. Each bulletin can be different in that regard. This article aims to provide you with enough information to be able to answer the question yourself. Firstly, we need to define what “mandatory” means. For
the purposes of this discussion, the term mandatory means “required in order to maintain a valid FAA airworthiness certificate.” Most service bulletins are not mandatory in nature as defined above. Each manufacturer, whether it be an airframe, engine, propeller or appliance manufacturer, has some method of notifying the industry when conditions that need to be addressed exist. Most manufactures have more than one level of seriousness or urgency associated with their bulletins. They can be labeled informational, recommended, mandatory, alert, etc. This might be a source of confusion. When the manufacturer says the bulletin is “mandatory,” the definition of mandatory gets cloudy. If the manufacturer states that the bulletin is mandatory, they want you to comply with it and there might be some warranty issues attached to it. Not complying with a bulletin could have consequences from the manufacturer, but the fact that the manufacturer states that the bulletin is mandatory doesn’t mean that it is “required in order to maintain a valid FAA airworthiness certificate.” This is an important distinction. By FAA design, the manufacturer does not have specific authority to mandate an action except through certain channels, all of which are regulatory and FAA governed. Below we will discuss the channels through which compliance with a service bulletin can be mandatory.
THE AIRCRAFT TYPE CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET ISSUED BY THE FAA
The airworthiness of an aircraft begins at the type certificate data sheet (TCDS). That is where the FAA defines the type design of an aircraft, and in order to be airworthy, an aircraft must conform to its type design (or its properly altered configuration, i.e., STCs), and be in a condition for safe
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operation. That’s where I start when digging through these types of questions. The TCDS defines the aircraft in several ways. Every manufacturer differs in how they handle some of
the key elements of what is addressed in a TCDS, but they all give us critical airworthiness data. The TCDS tells us where to find airworthiness limitations, which are those inspection and maintenance items and life-limited parts. Some manufacturesr place the airworthiness limitations in the aircraft maintenance manual itself. In those cases, you will see that the FAA has approved that section of the maintenance manual. In other cases, the airworthiness limitations might be a separate document itself — not the maintenance manual or a service bulletin, but a completely separate document. Some manufactures place the airworthiness limitations in
service bulletins. In those cases, those bulletins are indeed mandatory because they are then the source document for the replacement times for life-limited parts called for in 14 CFR Part 91.409(e). Because 91.409 (e) requires life-limited part replacement times be complied with (see below), and a manufacturer can choose to use a service bulletin to define those replacement times, a service bulletin that calls for them AND is referred to in the TCDS must be complied. There are no other options. 14CFR Part 91.409 Inspections (e) Large airplanes (to which Part 125 is not applicable), turbojet multiengine airplanes, turbopropeller-powered multi-engine airplanes, and turbine-powered rotorcraft. No person may operate a large airplane, turbojet multi- engine airplane, turbopropeller-powered multi-engine airplane, or turbine-powered rotorcraft unless the replacement times for life-limited parts specified in the aircraft specifications, type data sheets, or other documents approved by the Administrator are complied with and the airplane or turbine-powered rotorcraft, including the airframe, engines, propellers, rotors, appliances, survival equipment, and emergency equipment, is inspected in accordance with an inspection program selected under the provisions of paragraph (f) of this section, except that, the owner or operator of a turbine-powered rotorcraft may elect to use the inspection provisions of § 91.409(a), (b), (c), or (d) in lieu of an inspection option of § 91.409(f).
DOMmagazine
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