Technical Documentation Challenges in Aviation Maintenance: A Proceedings Report

Civil Aerospace Medical Institute2012PDFTech ReportAvers, Katrina BedellJohnson, BillBanks, Joy O.Wenzel, Brenda M.Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteUnited States. Office of Aerospace MedicineUnited States. Office of Aerospace MedicineUnited StatesMaintenance practicesAirworthinessAviation safetyDOT/FAA/AM-12/16Task no. AM-A-08-HRR-521The 2012 Technical Documentation workshop addressed both problems and solutions associated with technicaldocumentation for maintenance. These issues are known to cause errors, rework, maintenance delays, othersafety hazards, and FAA administrative actions against individuals and organizations. The report describes thegroup processes and data collection technique used to identify the top ten industry action items for addressingdocumentation issues:1. Quantify financial loss related to documentation issues.2. Develop/apply methods for evaluating quality of technical documentation.3. Leverage voluntary reporting to identify specific problems with documentation.4. Improve/create guidance for FAA personnel working documentation issues, especially Instructions forContinued Airworthiness (ICA).5. Expand incident investigation to identify details associated with documentation issues.6. Improve integration and linkage of content across maintenance documents \u2013 maintenance manuals, taskcards, and illustrated parts catalogs.7. Delegate approval from FAA to industry using established Organization Designation Authorization(ODA).8. Improve usability of manual format, accessibility of manual, and training on manual use.9. Initiate industry mandate requiring users to address known documentation issues.10. Improve coordination of document professionals from industry segments and government.119