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A Sad Day for Safety

I am an A&P/IA and owner of a small maintenance shop near the California coast. I recently agreed to house and maintain a Macon Aerostar that was getting its 135 certificate. The airplane moved in and in a couple of weeks the feds arrived to complete the conformity inspection and issue its 135 certificate and did so. Another couple of weeks its 100-hour inspection was due.

One would expect that an airplane that was just issued a Part 135 certificate, that just completed a Part 135 conformity inspection would be a nice, simple 100-hour inspection. Oh silly me, I was shocked. No time limit items were anywhere near up-to-date, the magnetos were 300 hours past their 500-hour inspection, turbos were over, and, get this, most of the hoses in the wings are 30 years old with 1,000 pounds of hydraulic pressure running in them.

What do you think, wouldn’t any mechanic worth his/her salt be concerned that an error had been made in issuing this part 135 certificate. Wrong again. I asked the owner to show the certificate to me. The Part 135 certificate was issued and the maintenance was to be done by 100 hour and annual inspection and the engines and propellers to adhere to manufacturers overhaul limits. And the inspections are to be done in accordance with part 43 appendix D.

Because I was in such disbelief and noticeably upset the owner called the fed that issued the certificate and we all got on a conference call. I asked the inspector. "Are you seriously telling me that this part 135 airplane does not have to adhere to time limits?" The fed said, "No, this aircraft does not have to adhere to time limits." I said, "You mean this man may fly the aircraft parts like magnetos until they quit?" His answer, "Yes he can." I asked the fed, "Does this aircraft have to comply with service bulletins?" The fed answered, "No, this aircraft does not have to comply with service bulletins." I asked the fed, "You are telling me that all the inspection this aircraft has to have is I/A/W part 43 appendix D?" The fed stated, "Yes, and in fact you may not use the manufacturers inspection list to inspect this aircraft you may only use part 43 appendix D."

I have been in aviation for most of my 62 years and believe deeply in the rules built by the experience of many. I take safety in general aviation very seriously and I am appalled by this breach in the system. P.S. I sent my article to the NTSB and they sent it to the Van Nuys, Calif. FSDO. I received a call and a letter from the fed that said they would investigate I/A/W current FAA policy. That was a few months ago. I can’t believe this 135 certificate wasn’t immediately pulled.

Larry M. Curtis

Caffeine and Sugar

I just finished the article on duty cycles and am glad to see someone bringing this up (see Editor’s Notebook, Sept. 2007). In the military, many times you are asked (ordered) to work extra hours. I pulled a 72-hour shift and after I fell out of a truck on my face, I was finally relieved but told to be back in 10 hours. That was in peace time and the military plays by different rules. In my civilian life I have pulled extra shifts and had to "stay over" after a shift to finish up a project. At times I would take a quick nap during a lull in activity or while waiting for support of some kind. Caffeine and sugar have sometimes been abused to get me through. That is not a replacement for rest.

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