Aircraft Lease Review – Engine AD’s (Airworthiness Directives)
Using the example of an aircraft being returned off lease then the airline will provide you with an AD status report giving the current state of the engine. The report will clearly identify your aircraft and display the total hours and total cycles along with the date the report was produced.
Firstly, note the details on the report and ensure that it is presented with all correct data including aircraft identification, Flight Cycles (FC) and Flight Hours (FH) at time of production of the report
Some of the AD’s will be marked N/A (not applicable) and this is not a problem if there is a valid reason the AD is not valid. What is not acceptable is an AD marked N/A with no explanation. It is the responsibility of the lessee (airline) to justify the applicability of an AD.
You will need to check that each Airworthiness Directive marked as not applicable is justified and validate why within the AD document.
The report should detail the following:
*Effectivity to engine
*Method of compliance including AMOC (Alternative Means of Compliance)
*AD status (modified, repaired, inspected etc.)
*AD Revision
*Repeat Inspection
When we review the AD’s themselves, we need to ensure that the AD status recorded on the report matches that of the associated evidence supplied; the DFP (Dirty Fingerprints)
For Each AD listed you should have an AD folder and be able to demonstrate the following:
*Provide a copy of the applicable AD to review noting revision.
*Provide the Certified Maintenance Task Card where relevant
*Provide a copy of the SB or work instruction noting revision where applicable
*Provide the AD status from the SV (Shop Visit)
*If AD is for an LLP that was replaced in SV, then the DFP is the SV release paperwork; this will contain the LLP certificate
*If AD relates to a serialised item, then you need to verify that the component installation certificates. This data should also be on the inventory/configuration listing or the LLP Status listing.
Please check out our Technical Lease Training Programme to allow you to be competent in technical records reviews on behalf of an airline, lessor, or independent consultant https://ialta.aero/aviation-courses/technical-lease-training-programme