Appeal Results In Consent Order, Restoration Of Repair Station
Certificate In Sight
AAR Corporation announced Sunday the
company and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have entered
into a Consent Order that terminates the FAA's Emergency Order of
Suspension.
The FAA issued its Order on February 10, 2009, and AAR
immediately filed a petition for review before the National
Transportation Safety Board on February 12, 2009.
Under the terms of this Consent Order, the parties agreed to
"resolve all matters relating to the Order and Petition, and to
devote their respective resources to an expeditious and orderly
restoration of AAR Landing Gear Services' authority to operate its
repair station certificate." The parties envision reinstatement of
AAR Landing Gear Services' repair station certificate with full
operations "no later than February 20, 2009."
"We're very pleased to have worked this matter out quickly and
cooperatively, with minimum inconvenience to our customers and
employees," said David P. Storch, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of AAR CORP. "We greatly appreciate the FAA's expeditious
review of our corrective actions and their willingness to devote
priority resources to revalidate our continued safe and compliant
operations."
Representatives of AAR and the FAA
met this week at the FAA's Southern Region office in Atlanta,
Georgia and reached agreement on the consent order. As part of the
order, the FAA's Emergency Order of Suspension was terminated and
AAR Landing Gear Services agreed to a variety of revisions to its
maintenance procedures and manuals, enhanced training, and revised
"shop travelers" documenting maintenance performed.
As ANN reported last week, the Emergency Order
was issued following inspections which revealed that AAR did not
follow aircraft manufacturer maintenance manual procedures for
conducting liquid penetrant exams, shot peening and cadmium plating
before returning to service a variety of landing gear parts for air
carrier aircraft. The FAA maintained AAR employed defective
processes and followed defective inspection protocols.
AAR is a leading provider of products and services to the
worldwide aerospace and defense industry. With facilities and sales
locations around the world, AAR uses its close-to-the-customer
business model to serve aviation and defense customers through four
operating segments: Aviation Supply Chain; Maintenance, Repair and
Overhaul; Structures and Systems; and Aircraft Sales and
Leasing.