Communications between Flight Deck and Line Maintenance The Critical Interface

Late or incomplete defect reporting No communication from flight deck en route to base with a defect Poor recording of actions taken to clear defect Lack of understanding of the inter relationships of safety critical software A build up of defect reporting just prior to aircraft hangar check Have you experienced any of the following?

Some examples of such failures These represent current understanding where in some cases the investigation is not complete. The circuit breaker incident in the Spanair accident Repeated failures of equipment returned to service with no fault found The recent Air France accident. Did the flight deck know that they were flying an aircraft with at risk pitot’s?

But, this is one of the most important communication interfaces from an aircraft airworthiness and hence safety standpoint.

A potential route to a solution

An integrated Safety Management System hence a safety case across this critical interface.

What are the considerations? Identification of the Risks Understanding the inter-relation of the highly sophisticated safety critical systems Flight crew and line maintenance understanding of what the on board systems are describing as faults Isolating a circuit without knowing the full consequences and risk Replacing a “black box” without understanding the potential consequences if it was a no fault found unit The risk lack of timely communication from flight deck or line maintenance

Risk Mitigation Integrated SMS and safety case Training of flight deck crews to provide timely accurate and concise technical reports Training of flight deck and line maintenance on the logic of the highly automated and highly reliable flight controls