November, 2002

Copyright 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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NTSB member John Goglia says that the U.S. emphasizes systems training for aviation maintenance technicians but does not teach many of the basics, like how to properly use the maintenance manual and the illustrated parts catalog (IPC). Technicians use these resources every day, often without having had any training on how to, which can lead to accidents.

For instance, Goglia points to an Emery Worldwide Airlines DC-8 cargo aircraft accident that occurred on Feb. 16, 2000. The NTSB suspects a mechanic attached the flight control attachment backwards. ''One of the issues that has come to light from this accident investigation is that the IPC may be used in a manner contrary to what it is designed for,'' said Goglia. He cautioned that the IPC can be a trap for mechanics because the document should not be used for maintenance; mechanics only should use the IPC to order parts. ''We need to do a better job of validating the manuals and teach technicians how to use them because there are subtle differences between each of the OEM's documents,'' said Goglia. If operators would teach their employees how to use these references, operators would find document discrepancies, such as the DC-8 IPC error.

FAA's Technical Center is studying this issue with Wichita State University to ascertain the extent of the problem with maintenance documents. The first two phases of this study are done. The first phase identified several human factors issues inherent in the manufacturers' development process, including limited user input for procedure validation and no systematic attempt to track errors. The second phase revealed that users think manuals are hard to use. The portions of the study completed so far support the need for more user involvement during the document development and reveal that technicians do not receive any or little training on how to use technical manuals. At press time, FAA was editing the study's third phase.