1. DEFINITION
1.1. The maintenance is the action necessary to sustain maintaining an item in a serviceable condition, including servicing, repair, modification, overhaul, inspection, whit the objetive of ensuring that a system continually performs its intended function at its designed-in level of reliability and safety.
2. ACTIVITY
2.1. Is the process of aircraft technical activity which is conducted on aircraft whilst it remains in the line maintenance or base maintenance environment. Aircraft Maintenance is intended to keep the aircraft in a state which will or has enabled a certificate of release to service to be issued.
3. TYPES OF MAINTENANCE
3.1. Maintenance will consist of a mixture of Preventive and Corrective work.
3.1.1. Preventive
3.1.1.1. The main objective of preventive maintenance is to avoid or mitigate the consequences of equipment failures. Preventive maintenance tasks: change of worn parts, oil or lubricant changes, inspection and cleaning, etc. in order to guarantee its good operation and reliability.
3.1.1.1.1. The item must be restored to its original reliability after maintenance action.
3.1.1.1.2. The cost of maintenancE must be less than the failure it is intended to prevent.
3.1.2. Corrective
3.1.2.1. It is the most basic form of maintenance and consists of locating faults or defects to correct or repair them.
3.1.2.1.1. -They cannot be planned in time.
3.1.2.1.2. -Presents costs for repair and spare parts not budgeted.
4. FORMS OF MAINTENACE
4.1. Light or Line Maintenance
4.1.1. Is the maintenance that is carried out before flight to ensure that the aircraft is fit for the intended flight.
4.1.1.1. Trouble shooting.
4.1.1.2. Defect rectification.
4.1.1.3. Component replacement
4.1.1.4. Scheduled maintenance and/or checks including visual inspections
4.1.1.5. Minor repairs and modifications
4.2. Base or Heavy Maintenance
4.2.1. Base Maintenance may be referred to as Heavy (or Depth) Maintenance, and consists of tasks that are generally more in-depth and long-lasting, but are performed less frequently.
4.2.1.1. Checks (check for deterioration of the airframe, engines and systems,corrosion, fatigue)
4.2.1.2. Removal of defects – implementation of Service Bulletins (SB) and Airworthiness Directives (AD)
4.2.1.3. Technology upgrade – fitting of Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS), Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) etc.
4.3. Shop or Component Maintenance
4.3.1. It is called "workshop" or simply store maintenance. This covers the maintenance of the components when they are removed from the aircraft
4.4. Maintenance Intervals
4.4.1. The intervals of maintenance are parameters set within the Approved Maintenance Schedule (AMS), based on the Maintenance Planning Document (MPD).
4.4.1.1. Hard time
4.4.1.1.1. Preventative process in which known deterioration of an Item is limited to an acceptable level by the maintenance actions
4.4.1.1.2. Carried out at periods related to time in service (calendar time, number of cycles, number of landings).
4.4.1.2. On-Condition
4.4.1.2.1. Preventative process in which Item are inspected or tested, at specified periods, to an appropriate standard to determine whether it can continue in service
4.4.1.2.2. Fundamental purpose of On-Condition is to remove an Item before its failure in service.”
4.4.1.3. Condition monitoring
4.4.1.3.1. Information on Items gained from monitoring is collected, analysed and interpreted on a continuing basis as a means deciding whether or not to implement corrective procedures.
4.4.1.3.2. This process is normally automated and may form part of the aircraft’s on-board health management system.