Subject: FAA Publishes Final Rule for Service Difficulty Reporting for Repair Stations

Reference: Federal Register dated: December 30, 2003 Page 75379.

Summary: The final rule amends the regulations governing service difficulty reports (SDRs) submitted to the FAA by aeronautical repair stations. The FAA is clarifying which type of failures, malfunctions, and defects repair stations must report. The FAA is also replacing certain section references with part references to eliminate the need to revise repair station regulations again if the FAA further revises SDR rules.

Major Highlights: On July 30, 2001, the FAA issued "Repair Stations; Final rule with request for comments and direct final rule with request for comments,'' (66 FR 41088; August 6, 2001). In that rulemaking action, FAA amended Sec. Sec.  145.63 and 145.79 by, among other changes, replacing the phrases "serious defect'' and "other unairworthy condition'' with the phrase "failure, malfunction, or defect.''

The FAA received extensive comments from repair station’s expressing concern about FAA's removal in July 2001 of the word "serious'' to describe the type of defect that must be reported. Repair stations contend the language in Sec. 145.221(a) requires them to report all failures, malfunctions, or defects, regardless of severity.

The FAA agreed with the repair station industry concerning the word "serious''. It was not the agency's intent to require repair stations to report "any'' failure, malfunction, or defect.  When the FAA combined Sec. 145.63 and Sec. 145.79 to create Sec. 145.221, the FAA standardized language in that section to match language in parts 121, 125, and 135, which do not include the word "serious.''  In doing so, FAA removed the word "serious'' to describe the type of failures, malfunctions, and defects repair stations must report.

In the final rule the FAA's reiterates that is was not their intent to require repair stations to report all failures, malfunctions, and defects and that repair stations are required to report only serious failures, malfunctions, and defects.  Therefore, the FAA is reinserting the word "serious'' before the word "failure'' in Sec.  145.211(a).

AEA Commentary: The Association is please with the FAA’s actions on this issue and encourages the repair stations to review their repair station manuals with reference to 145.221 to ensure that only the reporting of "serious” failures, malfunctions, and defects are reported.

FMI: www.aea.net, www.aea.net/145sdrdirectfinal.pdf