Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

FAA Rules - Part 135. / EASA reg. aircraft

A silly question.

Piper have issued a S.B that requires the tail being removed and inspected every 100h. Part 135 must comply (??) and according to EASA any S.B is the law (as I understand).

The owners group gave a fight, the FAA agreed and in the A.D that was issued they instruct for the tail to be removed every 500h or 5 years. EASA added their name to the FAA AD as is.

So if part 135 operators must comply with S.B's and any EASA reg. aircraft must comply with any S.B isn't this a contradiction?

Thanks

Ben

Part 135 is charter / on demand.

Did you perhaps mean Part 91?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

No, Part 91 is you and me flying our toys for fun, I mean commercial operation (in the USA) that must comply with S.Bs and A.Ds and EASA reg that must comply with anything.

Ben

Not sure I get your drift, Ben.

Everybody operating aircraft with an ICAO CofA has to comply with ADs.

EASA is not obliged to emulate the FAA; in fact they try to do the opposite!

"We are Europeans, not Americans, and we need European regulation, not American regulation" is the often quoted explanation.

The problem is that the SB system was set up (in the USA) on the understanding that implementation of an SB is optional. Only the certification authority has the power to make it mandatory (by converting it into an AD). EASA's position of making many SBs mandatory is a perversion of the system.

But also manufacturers manipulate the SB system for profit. It is fairly normal for "mandatory" SBs only to be done free of charge within the warranty period. So they like making SBs "non-mandatory", until the warranties on affected airframes run out, and then they start making them "mandatory" so they get the business on the sale of the components This works well in Europe, where people are forced to go along with it.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Ok, let make it simpler.

Piper says that the tail has to be removed every 100h or once a year. This is an S.B which a G reg aircraft must follow.

EASA AD (a copy of the FAA) says to remove the tail every 500h or 5 years.

If you don't follow the S.B you are in breach of the rules because S.Bs are mandetory, but the AD about the same issue requires the same to be done every 5 years or 500h, so which one of the two do you follow?

5 Posts
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top