A recent series of articles in the Charlotte Observer newspaper published starting December 7, 2003 documents some startling statistics. Maintenance has typically been a relatively low factor in the universe of aviation accident causes. But according to the Observer article, "since 1994, maintenance problems have contributed to 42 percent of fatal airline accidents in the United States...up from 16 percent the previous decade.

"During the past decade, 466 people died in eight U.S. accidents linked to maintenance problems. The decade before, seven maintenance-related crashes killed 160," the article stated.

The article raises some important questions about the increase in maintenance-related accidents. I don't know the answers, but what does seem obvious is that the numbers in the Observer article, if accurate, are extraordinary and they are a cause not only for concern, but also for action.

What kind of action? More money for mechanics, more money for equipment, more training, more pats on the back?

Hogwash. If the numbers are true-and we must be careful because they are based on some accidents that have not yet been fully reported on by the National Transportation Safety Board-then what we're seeing is an urgent need to focus on the fundamental principles of maintenance safety. Accidents are probably happening because these principles are being violated.

What are these principles?

Before discussing them, consider a situation where a big city had a problem and successfully tackled that problem. New York City had a huge crime problem when Rudy Giulani was elected mayor. Instead of cracking down on crime from the top down-focusing on the big crimes like murder, rape, and armed robbery-Giulani and his team looked at the universe of crime. Any criminal behavior became fair game, including petty crimes like vandalism, graffiti, and jumping the turnstile on the subway.

The New York City attack on crime was tremendously successful. Not only did petty crime drop, so did all types of crime. The Big Apple is now a much safer city.

What does this have to do with aircraft maintenance?

The increase in maintenance-related accidents is a wake-up call to this industry. Something isn't working, and we need to make a change in order to nip this maintenance-accident trend in the bud.

New York City's experience serves as a good guide for aircraft maintenance.

Instead of concluding that we need more rules or more focus on big-time rule violators, what we need is a bottoms-up approach to maintenance quality. By focusing on the little stuff, we can have a profound effect on the maintenance accident rate.

In practical terms, this means:

• Take care of the little stuff before it turns into big stuff. A great example of this is cleaning. The rules require that aircraft be cleaned, anyway. And what better way to find a cracked, corroded, or broken part than the close examination that happens during cleaning? I've noticed a trend to offload cleaning to non-maintenance personnel, as if cleaning is beneath a mech-anic's dignity. Sorry, but cleaning is an essential part of maintenance, and the closer and more personal mechanics get with the products they work on, the more problems they'll find.
• Encourage mechanics to check and double-check everything, over and over. Include the entire system. An example: the Beech 1900D crash in Charlotte, North Carolina, where investigators are focusing on elevator rigging. From the information released, it appears that after the rigging work, the elevator travel was not compared to the control wheel travel.
• While it is important to get the aircraft done on time, managers need to focus on removing obstacles for their mechanics and helping them do their work more efficiently. Blaming a mechanic for finding a problem-this really happens-is counterproductive and bad for morale.
• Be a professional. No amount of money, bonuses, pats on the back, passenger adulation, fancy tools, or heated hangars makes a mechanic a professional. Being a professional is an internal mind-set. Professionals act in a certain way and never compromise, no matter the pressure.

We all need to focus on the fundamentals; be attentive to little things as well as the big problems, double- and triple-check everything, and work as professionals. If we show the world that we are professionals, the money, attaboys, and all the other good stuff will automatically follow.