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10 Air & Space Law. 1 (1995-1996)

handle is hein.journals/airspaclaw10 and id is 1 raw text is: Forum on Air and Space Law American Bar Association ' 'HE AIR AND SPACE LAWYER Volume 10, Number I Summer 1995 Aircraft Part Manufacturers Come Under Increased FAA Scrutiny Be Prepared if Filing for Parts Manufacture Approval After the Deadline BY STEVEN S. FUS* The Federal Aviation Ad- ministration (FAA) publicly aonoulnced its plans to enforce full compliance with 14 C.F.R. § 21.303(a) after May 27, 1995.' Federal Avia- tion Regulation (FAR) § 21.303(a) requires anyone who produces a modification or replacement part for sale and installation on a type- certificated product to obtain a Parts Manufacture Ap- proval (PMA) from the FAA.2 The announcement was made on February 27, 1995, giving manufacturers a 90-day grace period to submit applications for PMAs.3 The FAA action is intended to encourage compli- ance and clarify previous FAA statements and prac- tices regarding enforcement of the regulation. Previous FAA statements and practices contribute to miscon- ceptions by some suppliers.' These suppliers believe that once they become a provider of a particular part to a production approval holder,' (PAH), they are authorized to produce the part outside of the contrac- tual arrangement with the PAH. The parts are pro- duced and sold to willing and often oblivious buyers without obtaining a PMA, and without obtaining authorization from the PAH to ship the parts directly to a buyer. Parts produced in this manner may be airworthy, * Steven '. Fus p,.rforms regulaitory compliance work for United Airlines' Mai,tenance Operations Division. Ile has 15 years of major airline, experience in maintenance, engineering, quality ass.ir- ance. and regulatory compliance, and holds Federal Aviation Administration Private Pilot, FAA Airframe and Powerplant, and Federal Communications Commission General Radiotelephone licenses. The views expressed in this article are the author's ai.d not necessarily those of United Airlines. but are unapproved if the PAH, who possesses FAA certification of its quality control system, has not exer- cised the required quality control' over the part's fabri- cation. Obtaining a PMA, like a production approval, requires obtaining FAA approval of a quality control system that ensures each part conforms to its design data and is safe for installation on applicable certifi- cated products.' If the part is produced outside of an FAA-approved quality control system, it is considered unapproved, even if it is identical in fit, form, and function to one produced under an FAA-approved system. The basis for the unapproved status lies in the concern that a system that is not FAA-approved may not have sufficient quality control to ensure that all parts will consistently meet all applicable airworthi- noss standards. The FAA has not been rigorously enforcing this aspect of the regulations, but has now announced intentions of doing so. Previous FAA efforts to encourage compliance have had limited success.' One need only look to the amount of media attention given to bogus parts to understand why the FAA has had a change of heart. Reasons for Noncompliance Many aircraft parts manufacturers have been aware of the regulation and have been fully compliant. A few, however, may be deliberately violating the regulation for economic or other reasons; others are simply igno- rant of the requirements. These latter manufacturers have been producing aircraft parts for years in accor- dance with a specification supplied by a PAH and have difficulty understanding why that part can now suddenly be considered unapproved. Some of the manufacturers are under the false impression that they are not subject to FAA enforce- ment actions because they are not an FAA-certificated agency. They need not be certificated, however, for the (continued on page 14) I~

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