Blog Archives
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Celebrate AMT Day
By Ronald Donner - Thursday May 16, 2013On May 24, the birthday of Charles E. Taylor, the Wright Brothers first mechanic who sometimes is referred to as the “Father of Aircraft Maintenance,” we will once again celebrate Aircraft Maintenance Technician or AMT Day. Do you remember why you decided to choose aviation as a career? Were you influenced by certain people as you were growing up? Did you hang around at your local airport? Perhaps a relative worked in aviation or you attended airshows? For me I always had an interest in airplanes and my father operated a small service station with a one-stall garage. Given my early interest in all things mechanical and in aviation, it seemed only natural I would go to school and obtain my A&P. I always knew I would spend my life... -
The Regional Airline Industry
By Ronald Donner - Thursday April 25, 2013Nearly 50 percent of the nation’s commercial airline schedule today is operated by Regional Airlines. One of every five domestic airline passengers will travel on one of the 2,700 regional aircraft that serve around 658 cities across the U.S. In 470 of those cities regional airlines provide the only scheduled service. Regional Airlines make about 13,000 flights a day carrying about 160 million passengers a year. Looking after their best collective interesst is the Regional Airline Association (RAA), a business association headquartered in Washington, D.C. RAA represents members’ interests in Congressional hearings and before the Department of Transportation, the FAA and other agencies. Back a few decades these airlines were known as... -
Aviation doesn’t settle for average
By Ronald Donner - Thursday April 11, 2013Paging through the May 2013 Consumer Report, a small article on page 11 titled “U.S. hospitals still not safe” caught my attention. The article explained how more hospitals are required to track and report safety data, and it provided a summary and a few rankings based on a 100-point scale. The average score was 49; highest 72 and the lowest mentioned 14. Also mentioned was teaching hospitals, “which are supposed to prepare future doctors” are lagging. I’m not a health care professional and understand a comparison between aviation services and hospitals regarding safety, quality, and risk management is perhaps not an easy or even fair comparison. But the article did prompt me to think these two industries share some... -
ARSA 2013 Annual Repair Symposium
By Ronald Donner - Thursday March 28, 2013Sarah MacLeod welcomed everyone on Thursday, March 21 st in her usual spirited style. Ms. MacLeod as most of you know is executive director and a founder of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association. Throughout the day ARSA staff, industry representatives, and regulators provided updates to the membership regarding recent ARSA activities on the legislative and regulatory fronts, rulemaking updates, along with perspectives from EASA and CASA representatives. John Hickey, Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety with the FAA, addressed the ARSA membership making several interesting comments worth repeating. Mr. Hickey shared, “We are in some very difficult times” and went on to describe how sequestration will recast... -
6th Annual AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition
By Ronald Donner - Thursday March 14, 2013Twenty four teams from four countries competing in fourteen different maintenance skills events began the three day AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition yesterday. New for this year is live video streaming of the entire event sponsored by Snap-on Industrial. Visit the AviationPros website to view the live event including regular updates and interviews each day at 1-1:15 p.m. Eastern/10-10:15 a.m. Pacific, 3-3:15 p.m. Eastern/12-12:15 p.m. Pacific, 5:30-5:45 p.m. Eastern/2:30-2:45 p.m. Pacific, and a wrap-up of the day’s events at 7:45-8:00 p.m. Eastern/4:45-5:00 p.m. Pacific. And don’t forget to tweet out support for your favorite team using Twitter hash tag AMTS2013MSC. Friday concludes the event with the awards ceremony from... -
The Aircraft Maintenance Profession Loses a Friend
By Ronald Donner - Wednesday February 27, 2013
The last time I visited Denver, CO, we celebrated Tom Hendershot’s induction into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. Today my visit is to attend Tom’s funeral. We were all saddened to hear of the recent passing of aircraft maintenance professional’s staunchest supporter, Tom Hendershot, on Feb. 22, 2013. I knew Tom only a short three years. He was the consummate professional and gentlemen and will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and industry peers alike. While Tom Hendershot may have “slipped the surly bonds of earth,” his spirit and legacy to the many organizations and the countless thousands of AMTs he has met over his 57 years in aviation live on forever. As Executive Director for AMTSociety, Tom guided and... -
William O'Brien Trophy for Aviation Tech Excellence
By Ronald Donner - Thursday February 14, 2013
The AMTSociety has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Snap-on. For those of you that have attended the AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition, held in conjunction with Aviation Pros LIVE (former Cygnus Aviation Expo) you have seen the Snap-on presence. This year at Aviation Pros LIVE’13 held March 13 and 14 in Las Vegas, NE, the William O'Brien Trophy for Aviation Tech Excellence will be presented by Snap-on, and will be bestowed to the team with the overall winning score from the Maintenance Skills Competition. This prestigious award will be on display in the winning team’s facility for a year. The late William O’Brien was a popular figure in the FAA, advocating for the profession, safety, and professionalism... -
Fatigue and Poor Practice – a Bad Combination
By Ronald Donner - Thursday January 31, 2013This week the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a statement regarding the December 2011 air tour helicopter crash near Las Vegas, Nevada. The findings of the NTSB hit very close to home for all aircraft maintenance professionals. The NTSB press release states the crash was the result of the operator’s “ improper reuse of a degraded self-locking nut in the servo control input rod and the improper or non-use of a split pin to secure the degraded nut, in addition to an inadequate post-maintenance inspection. Contributing to the improper (or lack of) split pin installation was the mechanic's fatigue and lack of clearly delineated steps to follow on a "work card" or "checklist." The inspector's fatigue and lack of a work... -
Complexity Has Growing Pains
By Ronald Donner - Thursday January 17, 2013On my desk in front of me sits a model of the Dreamliner in Boeing signature colors. I smile when I gaze at it; although I can’t imagine there are smiles in the Boeing offices right now. Plagued by multiple production delays the Dreamliner final made its entry into revenue service in late 2011 with the industry closely watching. The unfortunate events of the past week pointing toward the lithium-ion batteries are the most concerning yet. Consequently aviation industry news today is a buzz with official statements, industry commentary, and of course opinions. On January 16th the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive that requires 787 operators in this country to temporarily halt operations... -
Lockout/Tagout Safety
By Ronald Donner - Thursday January 3, 2013Working around machinery, be it aircraft, maintenance equipment, or ground support equipment, comes certain risks. De-energizing systems for the accomplishment of maintenance is a key responsibility of all maintenance personnel. Without clear procedures, tags, or lockout devices, unfortunate events causing damage or bodily harm can occur. Utilizing effective lockout/tagout products and systems for both your aircraft maintenance facility and the aircraft being maintained not only complies with FAA and OSHA requirements, but protects your employees, equipment, and business. Todd Morrison from Master Lock Company and I discuss lockout/tagout products available on the market today and how these can support best practices for safety in...
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Events
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- 05/19/13 - 05/22/13
- 85th Annual AAAE Conference and Exposition 2013
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Conference/Expo, Reno, NV
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- 05/21/13 - 05/23/13
- EBACE2013
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Conference/Expo, Geneva,
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- 05/21/13 - 05/22/13
- FAME in Jet Measurement and EI Aviation Fuels Test Method Conference
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Conference/Expo, Teddington,
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- 06/03/13 - 06/03/13
- Ultrasonic Testing Level 1 Course
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Training, Lewistown, PA
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- 06/03/13 - 06/06/13
- ACI-NA Marketing & Communications and JumpStart & Air Service Development Program
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Conference/Expo, Atlanta, GA
