Tying a potential repair station safety management system (SMS) mandate to specific criteria, such as work performed on transport category aircraft, could be an acceptable alternative to a broad rule covering all FAA-certified facilities, a survey of MRO executives suggests. The survey, conducted by St. Louis University’s Center for Aviation Safety Research (CASR), generated about 440 responses from repair stations of all sizes, including some foreign facilities. 

AAR Corp. sees solid growth in its commercial airframe and component maintenance businesses near-term, continuing a steady upward trend that is helping the maintenance, airlift, and cargo systems supplier offset declining demand from its defense customers.

Boeing has asked operators to inspect Honeywell-made emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) installed on 717, 737NG, 747-400, 767 and 777 aircraft less than two weeks after the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch highlighted possible problems with a Honeywell ELT onboard the Ethiopian Airlines 787 that was damaged by fire at London Heathrow Airport July 12.

A Qatar Airways Boeing 787 was involved in a smoke incident at Doha International Airport earlier this week, say sources familiar with the situation. Smoke is understood to have been discovered towards the rear of the aircraft cabin, possibly originating in the equipment bay, the sources say.

There were more than 2,000 exhibitors at last month's Paris air show, and my guess is that at least one-third were involved in metal forming or cutting. And all of these companies depend on “subtractive” manufacturing techniques such as turning, milling and cutting to produce their aerospace parts. It was clear that many senior executives are acutely aware of and talking about the emergence of “additive” manufacturing (AM)—sometimes known as “3-D printing”—as the next major change-and-disruptive technology in aerospace manufacturing.

About 50 Airbus A380s need wing leading-edge lift devices inspected for incorrectly installed hinge assemblies, a proposed European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness directive says. The regulator says “a deficient assembly process” could cause gaps to form between bolts and bushings installed on droop nose hinge arm forks. Left unchecked, the stress could deform the forks and—in the worst case—break them.

Boeing 787 operators to be given 10 days to inspect Honeywell ELTs

Investigators looking into the emergency beacon fire which damaged an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 on July 12 are focusing on whether a pinched wire in the unit could have sparked a short circuit, igniting the battery. The new suspect in the search for a cause of the fire, which erupted in one of the 787’s emergency locator transmitters (ELT) while the aircraft was parked at London Heathrow Airport, emerged from forensic analysis of the Honeywell-built unit by the U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).