The Aeronautical Repair Station Association reports that the FAA's Engine and Propeller Directorate has re-released draft Advisory Circular (AC) 33-XX, "Turbine Engine Repairs and Alterations-Approval of Technical and Substantiation Data," including 164 pages of appendices and repair templates that accompany the draft guidance. The AC's comment deadline also has been extended 30 days, to Sept. 26.

The agency's moves came just days after an ARSA request to have appendices referenced in the draft AC, but not included in the draft document, made available for public comment.

The repair templates in the appendix document provide guidelines for developing technical and substantiation data to support repair designs and substantiation plans for category 2 parts, the agency explained. Templates for recurrent major repairs and major alterations related to 17 engine part families are included.

Each template includes a technical section, a regulatory section and common categories of repairs in a table format to assist applicants in developing appropriate technical and substantiation data.

As reported in an Aug. 23 edition of ARSA's weekly regulatory e-mail update to membership, ARSA wrote the FAA and requested that all reference material cited in AC 33-XX be made available for public comment, even though the agency advised the Association that few changes had been made since the appendices and templates were last available publicly.

ARSA's 700 members are an important part of the $9 billion per year domestic air transportation support sector of the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this economic sector is responsible for more than 115,000 jobs and a total annual employer payroll of $3 billion.

FMI: www.arsa.org, www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/display_docs/index.cfm?Doc_Type=AC, www.arsa.org/files/AC33xxappendices.pdf, www.arsa.org/files/AC33xxdraft0806.pdf