Service Bulletins commonly referred to as “SB’s” are airworthiness documents that originate from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
The purpose of these documents is a work instruction that may be anything from an inspection right through to a change of parts or the actual design.
The purpose of the Service Bulletin (SB) can vary and they aim to achieve many purposes including:
* Improve reliability
* Improve safety by reducing the risk
* Change a configuration – example thrust rating for an engine.
* Address an issue found to affect airworthiness – enforced by an AD (Airworthiness Directive)
* Change a process or maintenance task.
When we say manufacturers (OEM) please note that this is not restricted to just the aircraft manufacturer such as Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, ATR but also covers manufacturers of COMPONENTS and ENGINES as well.
The Service Bulletin itself acts as a work instruction of what needs to be achieved or accomplished along with what to do if you have any findings during the task being implemented.
During a Technical Records review you will be verifying whether or not an SB is incorporated and this forms part of the STATUS of the aircraft.
It is worth noting that Service Bulletins are not as freely available as Airworthiness Directives are. You will need access to the OEM manufacturer’s data in order to get the relevant SB.
As an example Boeing, Airbus or Embraer website access for their maintenance data will allow you access to get SB’s from these OEM manufacturers. You would need additional access then for SB’s that are incorporated on engines, landing gear or other components for example from manufacturers such as Pratt & Whitney; General Electric; Hamilton Sundstrand; Safran etc.
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