6 Crucial Steps to Reduce Aircraft Maintenance Errors
When maintaining an aircraft, the ability to quickly diagnose errors and provide solutions is an invaluable skill. An aircraft is expensive, and keeping it grounded due to faults costs a company a great deal of money. As much as possible, make every effort to keep aircraft maintenance errors to a minimum. Below are some steps you can follow to reduce aircraft maintenance errors.
1. Hire Qualified Technicians
An aircraft maintenance technician is comparable to a surgeon: both save lives. The surgeon operates on humans with the aim of saving lives. On the other hand, an aircraft technician operates on the aircraft with the aim of saving the lives of those on board. Just as a surgeon cannot afford to make mistakes, aircraft technicians must understand their actions can save or put the lives of passengers in great danger. Making sure aircraft maintenance technicians are adequately trained and experienced is key to a safe aircraft.
This training has to be continuous to be certain a technician is updated with the current trends and developments in aircraft design and maintenance. Continuously evaluate and implement aircraft maintenance management systems to incorporate other aviation-related topics. It might even be a good idea to give a mechanic flight lesson so they can understand the mechanics of an aircraft in flight.
2. Get Aircraft Maintenance Software
Aircraft maintenance is a complex affair replete with excruciating details and processes. However, an aircraft maintenance software can eliminate the headaches of implementing a complex maintenance aircraft solution. It also streamlines reporting procedures, minimizes risks, and improves workflow. It is also scalable in that it grows with your operations and easily integrates with emerging technologies.
3. Avoid Fatigue among Staff by Establishing and Enforcing Pre-duty Rest Times
Fatigue can compromise an aircraft technician’s ability to work efficiently. Adequate rest and sleep are key to making sure a technician is alert while undertaking aircraft maintenance. Just as pilots must take time off to rest, so do aircraft mechanics. They should take occasional rest breaks and avoid working while fatigued. When maintaining an aircraft, error margins can result in grave consequences, and working while fatigued increases the chances of making errors.
4. Avoid Shortcuts
Working from a checklist is an aircraft mechanic’s basis for making sure all maintenance areas have been checked and confirmed to be working perfectly. The impact of not checking out an aircraft part can be disastrous. Mechanics are known for improvisation and looking for alternative ways of fixing car trouble. This practice should not be carried into aircraft maintenance where the stakes are much higher. While taking shortcuts could save time and money, always stick with the manufacturer’s guidelines to avoid unwelcome consequences.
5. Enforce Quality Assurance
To keep aircraft maintenance errors to a minimum, or eliminate them, enforcing quality assurances is key. Always subject the work of aircraft technicians to an independent quality assurance check. Don’t just leave the mechanics to perform assurance checks on their own. Instead, have someone else, or other mechanics to check their work and ascertain whether it passes the established quality assurance standards. A second opinion could point out a potentially disastrous error and end up saving lives.
6. Establish Work Guidelines
Make sure you have guidelines that clearly demarcate what tasks can be performed by one mechanic and those that require the concerted efforts of a group of technicians. For instance, no single technician should replace a landing gear strut on a large aircraft alone. The guidelines should clearly explain what an aircraft mechanic can and cannot do.
It is important to monitor an aircraft constantly and painstakingly for potential errors to avoid putting the lives of passengers in peril. Having an aircraft maintenance software is one way of addressing all maintenance issues.
