AMTSociety Mx Logs Update

March 21, 2013
The 23 teams that competed in the 2013 AMTS MSC came to represent their respective companies and organizations as well as our craft and profession.

Having quality tools that are both standard and specific in use are were provided as prizes to the competitors of the 2013 AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition (AMTS MSC). These same tools were also used by the professionals during the many events that make up the AMTS MSC. The professionals I am speaking of are today’s aircraft maintenance technicians (AMT) and aircraft maintenance engineers (AME). The AMTSociety’s 6th Annual Maintenance Skills Competition (AMTS MSC) was held during the AviationPros LIVE in Las Vegas, NV.

The AMTS MSC is where each team of five Aircraft Maintenance Technicians competes in events that highlight just some of the many responsibilities that today’s AMTs carry in order to provide safe, airworthy aircraft worldwide. There are five categories for teams to compete in; Military Category, Commercial Aviation Category, General Aviation Category, School Category and MRO/OEM Category. There are first, second, and third place plaques and prizes for each category. Many different tool companies donate tools to these teams as thanks for competing against the best of the best.  The events range from basic safety wiring to turbine engine troubleshooting to electrical/avionic troubleshooting. Snap-On provides all the tools that the AMTs require to complete each event requiring tools.

Although the competition is fierce the spirit of the competition is professional and friendly. This is because every AMT/AME competing belongs to a brotherhood of professionals with a common thread of looking out for each other due to the fact that we all are entrusted with the lives of the people who fly on the machines we maintain … worldwide. This fact is evident in that the AMTS MSC has teams of AMTs that come from China, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The 23 teams that competed in the 2013 AMTS MSC came to represent their respective companies and organizations as well as our craft and profession. The following teams stood tall for the AMT craft and profession:

FedEx Team LAX, FedEx Team MEM, FedEx Team INDY, UPS, Alaska Airlines, Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, West Jet Airlines, Boeing, TIMCO, Lode Technology, Constant Aviation, United States Coast Guard, Redstone College, West LA College, Spartan College of Aerospace & Technology, Aviation Institute of Maintenance Teams from Atlanta/Dallas/Houston/Chesapeake/Kansas City/Philadelphia/Indianapolis, Salt Lake Community College. All of these teams fielded professionals of the highest caliber. There are no winners or losers in the AMTS MSC but there are bragging rights. And this year the teams that were awarded first, second and third place are as follows:

Commercial Aviation Category:

1st Place: FedEx Team LAX

2nd Place: FedEx Team INDY

3rd Place: UPS

MRO/OEM Category:

1st Place: Team Boeing

2nd Place: TIMCO

3rd Place: Lode Technology

School Category:

1st Place: Team Redstone College

2nd Place: Spartan College of Aerospace & Technology and Salt Lake Community College

3rd Place: Aviation Institute of Maintenance Team Dallas

NOTE: The 2013 AMTS MSC is the first year of the six years of competition that there was a tie for 2nd Place.

Military Category:

1st Place: United States Coast Guard

General Aviation Category:

1st Place: Constant Aviation

There is also an award presented to the one team from all the teams that compete that has the lowest overall score and this year that team was FedEx Team LAX! This award is called the William F. “Bill” O’Brien Award for Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance. This prestigious recognition not only comes with extra Snap-On Tools but also a trophy created and sponsored by Snap-On Industrial which consists of a bronze bust of Charles E. Taylor mounted on the top of two airfoils with polished metal supports and wire braces separating them. The glass sides are etched with the names of the five aircraft maintenance technicians who earned this wonderful award along with the name of their respective company or organization. (The previous recipients of this award are Continental Airlines '08/’09, Southwest Airlines '10/’11, United States Coast Guard ’12.)

The AMTSociety also presents the Charles E. Taylor Professional AMT Award which is given to the single most professional looking, professional acting and highest team spirited competitors in the AMTS MSC. This year the recipient was United States Coast Guardsman AET 2 Michael Bosch from Air Station Clearwater FL. This award also has Snap-On Industrial associated with it, most notably a gold engraved open end/box end wrench mounted in a shadow box.

Of the 14 challenging events that were competed in this year, all had tools that were presented to the team with the lowest score in that particular event. The AMTSociety would like to thank the following companies for their generosity for donating tools:

Snap-On Tools, DeWALT, SK Professional Hand Tools, Stanley Proto, ProBuilt Professional Lighting, Noise Buster Head Sets, David Clark Headsets, Top Flight Watches, Shure-Step Safety Step Stools, Bennette Desihn Group, Leatherman, Led Lenser, Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Protective Industrial Products, Silvertronic, Kennedy Tools, and Virgin America.

Redstone College provided commemorative lanyards and PPG provided 2013 AMTS MSC Challenge Coins. Snap-On also provided commemorative ratcheting screwdrivers to all of the AMT/AMEs and students who competed. 

The 2013 AMTS MSC continued the tradition of providing a world class venue for the knowledge, skill and integrity of today’s AMTs to be showcased in. But the AMTS MSC would not be challenging and exciting if not for the companies that sponsored events to be competed in. The AMTSociety would like to thank the following companies for their support:

CAE, FedEx, Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, PPG Aerospace, DFW Instrument Corporation, Alberth Aviation, ATP, Nida Corporation, Fluid Power Training Institute, Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Redstone College, and AirDat.   

The AMTS MSC grows each year and the level of competition rises with each new event and team. The best of the best in the aircraft maintenance profession come to not only compete against each other but to also stand together and help show the public who the true “Faces Behind Safety” are. If you would like to join the competition or just come and attend  we would be happy to have you!