From The FAA: Paint a Picture

• The PAR recognizes evidence of process hazards with the anticipation of resulting problems. Although the problem hasn’t yet occurred, evidence suggests a service or product will be affected if not prevented. Again, a PAR is tracked by AFS-040 from beginning to end.

The big picture

AFS-040 regularly reports the audit data to the Director; the trends are summarized and the Director is given the big picture. The audit program, like the offices they assess, is constantly changing to meet the needs of the FAA and the flying public.
The ISO audit process is a tool the Flight Standards division of the FAA uses to get a picture of how the organization is doing and which direction they need to take, similar to the many certificate holders that self-evaluate. This may not be the legendary “big picture,” but instead a snapshot; an X-ray into the health of Flight Standards to determine how to make it stronger by improving on what is within. AMT

Stephen Carbone is an aviation industry veteran of 28 years. He worked for FedEx for 19 years, where he began as a mechanic and eventually finished as a supervisor for line maintenance in Newark, NJ. He worked with the NTSB as the sole A&P certified accident investigator, and he taught at the NTSB Academy and at the Pax River Naval base education center in Maryland. Stephen joined the FAA in 2004 where he was first assigned to the Air Carrier Maintenance Branch in Washington, D.C., and he worked with the late Bill O’Brien. In 2006 he transferred to the Boston regional office in the Flight Standards Airworthiness Technical Branch. He holds a master’s degree in aviation safety systems.