Aircraft safety starts with the records
ESI Aviation helps aircraft owners, operators, brokers and buyers audit, organise, reconstruct and correct aircraft maintenance records.
In business aviation, safety is usually associated with inspections, maintenance programmes, experienced technicians and the physical condition of the aircraft. But there is another critical part of the safety system that is sometimes overlooked: the aircraft’s maintenance records. Words by Ryan Johnson, president of ESI Aviation.
An aircraft may have received excellent maintenance, but operators and technicians still need reliable documentation to establish what was accomplished, what parts were installed, what configuration the aircraft is in and what maintenance is required next.
That is why a professional aircraft records audit should be viewed as more than transaction due diligence. Accurate, complete and traceable records support better maintenance decisions and ultimately a safer aviation industry.
The aircraft and its records must tell the same story
Business aircraft can accumulate decades of history involving multiple owners, operators, maintenance facilities, tracking programmes and regulatory environments. Engines and components are changed, inspections are completed, ADs are complied with, repairs are performed and modifications are incorporated.
The physical aircraft represents one side of that history. The maintenance records represent the other. When those two sides don’t agree, uncertainty is introduced.
A maintenance tracking system may show an inspection or component as compliant while the supporting documentation is missing. A component may be installed on the aircraft without readily available traceability documentation. An alteration may be recorded without all of the supporting FAA Form 337, STC, ICA, engineering or approval documentation.
These situations do not automatically mean an aircraft is unsafe. They do mean the documented maintenance status deserves investigation.
Find the problems before they become bigger problems
At ESI Aviation, our aircraft records services are designed to identify these issues and help owners, operators, brokers and maintenance professionals resolve them.
A comprehensive records audit can identify missing maintenance entries, AD compliance discrepancies, incomplete life-limited component histories, missing 8130-3s or equivalent documentation, inconsistencies between physical records and CAMP/Traxxall/Veryon, incomplete repair or alteration documentation and discrepancies involving aircraft configuration, weight and balance, equipment lists, engines, APUs or landing gear.
Finding these discrepancies early provides an opportunity to research and correct them before they affect an inspection, conformity, aircraft transaction or future maintenance decision.
Better records support better maintenance decisions
ESI Aviation provides pre-purchase and pre-sale records audits, records restructure and organisation, records reconstruction, FAA import conformity and FAR Part 135 records conformity and preparation.
When records are incomplete, our reconstruction process can research maintenance tracking systems, OEMs, MROs, repair stations, previous operators, work orders, component documentation and other available sources to recover and validate historical information.
The objective is never to create unsupported aircraft history. It is to recover what can be substantiated, identify what cannot and give the people responsible for the aircraft better information to determine the appropriate next action.
This becomes especially important during Part 135 conformity and FAA imports, where an aircraft’s documented maintenance and configuration history can receive additional scrutiny. Discovering discrepancies before conformity allows time for research and correction rather than finding them when the aircraft is expected to enter service.
Good records are part of a strong safety culture
Organised records are not simply about making an aircraft easier to sell. Good documentation creates accountability and gives directors of maintenance, technicians, inspectors, operators and future owners a clearer understanding of the aircraft they are responsible for.
If maintenance was performed, the records should clearly demonstrate what was accomplished and provide the supporting documentation necessary to understand the aircraft’s continuing maintenance status.
A records audit itself is not an airworthiness determination. However, accurate and traceable records provide the people responsible for determining airworthiness with better information. And in aviation, better information supports better decisions. Find the gaps before they become problems.
