Maintenance Reports

Aviation is an industry that requires accurate, clearly understood communications. When writing up a discrepancy for the maintenance department, it is important that all relevant information is included. Requests for maintenance using words such as “evaluate”, “inop”, or “intermittent” do not convey much useful information to the service provider.

It is a beautiful day. You have heard this said many times, but what does it mean about the day? If a farmer has had three months of drought, it could be raining. If the same farmer has seen three days of rain, it could be a clear day. It could be a cold day, or a hot day…in other words, this sentence has no meaningful information. It conveys a sense of feeling, but nothing quantitative. How about this?

The sun is rising into the pale blue morning sky with its streams of light filtered through the motionless pine trees, the smell of early morning dew and lush southern forest vegetation add to the sounds of the peeps and calls of birds awakening from their night’s sleep.

Got the picture? Now let’s see what we can do with maintenance reports.

EVALUATE or
“Unit has been on shelf for more than one year, needs new 8130-3.”
“Unit came from aircraft being parted out. Believed serviceable when removed.”
“Removed 21 gallons of water from belly of aircraft, condition uncertain.”
“Previously sent to factory for backlighting repair, quote declined.”

INOP or
“Pilot reports 100s digit flickers throughout flight. Ramp tested and verified.”
“Unit is completely dead, no display, no audio, no needle movement.”
“Display lights up but no weather data received.”

INTERMITTENT or
“Pilot reports No.1 localizer needle tuned to 108.1 jumps back and forth erratically inside the OM. VOR OK. No.2 Nav worked OK.”
“ATC reports transmission received on No.2 Com garbled and unreadable on 126.25 and 118.975. This happened during cruise and descent, pilot’s receiver and sidetone OK.”
“Pilot reports unable to call for ground clearance on 121.925 on No.2 com. No.1 worked OK, No.2 worked OK rest of flight.”

In summary, describe the failure in detail, when the unit works and when it doesn’t. Your service provider wants to get it right the first time, as quickly as possible.

And remember:
ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS THE SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM BEFORE IT HAPPENS.