The AEA has filled ANN in on some pivotal developments over the Field Approval quandary that has so befuddled the aviation business. The FAA's FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 43-210 may eliminate a lot of confusion.

SUMMARY: This AC publishes in a standardized Advisory Circular much of the previously published policies that have dictated Field Approval procedures for over 40 years.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS: The AC provides standardized information on alteration data, the field approval application process, aircraft flight manual supplements, and instructions for continued airworthiness, including samples of various checklists that MAY be used to streamline the application process, but are not required.

AEA COMMENTARY: The Association is pleased that the FAA has finally, after 40 years, published public guidance on the use of, and application for, field approvals. For much too long the FAA has been directing the public procedures for field approvals through internal FAA employee policy.

However, the AC is not and cannot be used as a “stand-alone” document. It is a guidance document that leads the applicant to the appropriate certification regulations that may be applicable to a particular alteration or installation. The language of the AC does not always make that clear and can easily be misinterpreted. The AC provides an example of the means of compliance to the certification regulations in Parts 23 and 25, it does not change the regulations nor does it change the definition of what constitutes a major alteration.

As an example: A change to a flight manual (AC 43-210, Chapter 4), by itself, does not constitute a major alteration. An alteration that would cause a change in the operating limitations section of the aircraft flight manual as required by FAR 23.1583 would typically have an appreciable affect on the performance, powerplant operation, or flight characteristics of the aircraft, which would be the reason that the alteration would be considered major. The requirement to change the flight manual is a result of the major alteration; it is not the change to the flight manual or the need for an AFMS that made the alteration major.

The AC is a significant step forward in standardization of the field approval process. It is also expected to place an additional administrative burden on the applicant for field approvals. This is the “new cost” of field approvals. It is being imposed universally by the FAA on all of industry and should not be considered the “cost of doing business” but rather the cost of a “field approval” and should be passed on to the consumer.

The Association is challenging the AC for adding an additional cost to alterations. While we acknowledge that the material within the AC came from various previously published internal FAA policies, the administrative burden to the regulated public has never been accounted for. The FAA has failed to properly account for the additional administrative burden as mandated by Congress and the President. In addition, the FAA has failed to justify the need to hold the public to a higher administrative standard than the original equipment manufacturer with regards to flight manuals and instructions for continued airworthiness.

Overall, the Association commends the FAA for publishing this long overdue public guidance. AEA will continue to work with the FAA to clarify misleading information and to minimize the administrative burden and cost of the field approval application process.

This AC will be discussed at the AEA convention and regional meetings throughout 2004.

FMI: www.aea.net, www.aea.net/AC43-210.pdf