During a review of the aircraft repairs and a review for the lease transitions awareness of how to assess paperwork and physical repairs can be paramount; on occasion the paperwork might be satisfactory, but for example on a physical inspection be found not accurate or not including additional near damage that subsequently occurred.
Aircraft will of course over their lifetime receive damage from multiple sources – it might be weather, accidental impact, corrosion or general wear that causes damage.
While we expect damage, what is especially important is the process for repair and rectification of this damage. Damage can be repaired to one of two standards which are temporary and permanent. A temporary repair has a defined life and after this it will require maintenance action whereas a permanent repair is designed to be a longer-term solution.
Depending on the repair carried out regardless of being temporary or permanent it might attract additional ICA or instructions for continued airworthiness; this typically means additional maintenance or inspection requirements that would not ordinarily be covered by the maintenance plan associated with the aircraft.
Damage to an aircraft is always initially assessed and it can be then compared to a manual such as the Structural Repair Manual where general limits and acceptable or repairable damage is contained. On occasion damage is not repairable or acceptable IAW (in accordance with) approved data such as an SRM (structural Repair Manual) then you would contact the manufacturer.
The result can be an RDAF (Repair and Design Approval Form) for Airbus or a form 8100-9 for Boeing. The RDAF was previously known as an RDAS (repair design approval sheet) and formerly a RAS (repair approval sheet) so both terms are valid in addition to RDAF for Airbus – the term for the repair will depend on when it was issued.
The RDAS or 8100-9 will be subject to a repair instruction being carried out and so you must check the completeness of this instruction to validate the repair.
A common problem during review of such data is that a repair cannot demonstrate the NDT (non-destructive testing) requirement so be careful assessing.
While assessing repairs always be aware that damage around an old repair may now invalidate that repair – it can get quite complicated, but a repair that now has new damage within the reported vicinity should commonly be re assessed.
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