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Air Contamination and Aviation Airworthiness |
| Source: Aviation Contaminated Air Reference Manual |
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| Airworthiness Directive AD 002-03-2001 © | 10th April 2008 |
| by Susan Michaelis | |
British Aerospace was quite correct in its interpretation of what an Airworthiness Directive (AD) is. ADs are only ever issued by the aviation safety regulator and these essentially make a manufacturer service bulletin mandatory. ADs are issued where the regulator considers that an unsafe condition, ‘Exists, is likely to exist or is likely to develop.’ [67]
However, a mere 16 months later, only 6 months after the completion of the Australian Senate Inquiry reviewing the BAe 146 cabin air quality, both the CAA, CASA and the Canadian aviation regulator issued airworthiness directives on exactly this issue for the BAe 146. The UK CAA, as it was the original certifying authority for the BAe 146 issued the first AD connected to oil contamination of the air supply one day after the manufacturer British Aerospace had issued its service bulletin, SB 21-150. The AD will list the details, background and a compliance date by which the requirements must be completed. The UK CAA issued the 1st AD on cabin air contamination issues involving the BAe 146 known as AD 002-03- 2001. The relevant extracts are shown below. This was endorsed shortly afterwards by CASA, making it mandatory for all Australian registered BAe 146 aircraft to adhere to the BAe SB 21-150 under a similar AD. [68]
UK Civil Aviation Authority
Airworthiness Directive: AD 002-03-2001
British Aerospace BAe 146
21 March 2001NOTIFICATION TO FOREIGN AVIATION AUTHORITIES OF REQUIREMENTS MADE MANDATORY BY THE UK CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY - ISSUE 3/2001 - ADDENDUM
CAA Airworthiness Directive: 002-03-2001
Applicability: BAe Systems (Operations) BAe 146 -100, -200 and-300 series aircraft
Subject: Air conditioning: To inspect engine oil seals, APU and ECS jet pump and air conditioning pack for signs of oil contamination
Compliance Requirement: Compliance is required with BAe Systems (Operations) Service Bulletin ISB 21-150
The Service Bulletin requires inspection of the inside of each air conditioning pack regenerative air ducts and air cycle machine for the presence of oil contamination and the engines and APU for signs of wet oil contamination. Inspection is required immediately whenever a cabin air quality problem is identified which is suspected of being associated with oil contamination of the air supply from the ECS packs, whether intermittent or persistent. Effective from 3 April 2001, inspection is required at the next and every subsequent 'A' Check or within a maximum of 500 flights and repeated at a maximum 500 flight intervals. This action is required because incidents have been reported involving impaired performance of the flight crew. There is some circumstantial evidence that the events could have been caused by inhalation of an agent(s) resulting from oil and/or oil breakdown products leaking from the engine(s) or APU and contaminating the environmental control system.
All the above steps were good opportunities to deal with the contaminated air issue. Despite the fact they contained a lot of misinformation and denial they did contain some good pieces of advice and key admissions. These included the fact that oil contamination is a safety problem; crews had a reluctance to use oxygen masks in training; crews saw fumes as a nuisance; crews should use oxygen if there were unusual smells; airlines should be getting the cabin crew to remind pilots to use oxygen; there was a need to write up all defects where oil contamination is suspected etc… The information in the AOMs, SB and FODCOMs could have had a significant improvement on flight safety but in reality they had little impact on the way crews dealt with contaminated air events for a variety of reasons detailed below. Passengers, however, still continued to be advised nothing about these contaminated air events and little has changed today.
Flight Safety Aspects of Contaminated Air
Reporting Contaminated Air Events with Samples of Known Events
FODCOM (Flight Operations Department Communication) number 17/2000
You are reading >> Airworthiness Directive AD 002-03-2001
FODCOM (Flight Operations Department Communication) number 14/2001 and 21/2002
Aviation Regulators Misinterpret Main Ventilation Airworthiness / Safety Standard
References
67. Civil Aviation regulation 1988 (Australia) CAR 37 – Airworthiness Directive.
68. CASA (2001) Airworthiness directive AD/BAe 146/86: Environmental control system - Inspection for contamination. Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia, Canberra.
