7AStructural maintenance of composite structure aircraft

7A Structural maintenance of composite structure aircraft

7A.1In this subsection:

composite maintenance means maintenance of any of the following of a composite structure aircraft:

(a) primary structure;

(b) seat support structure;

(c) wings;

(d) empennage;

(e) flight control surfaces.

composite structure aircraft means an aircraft of fibre reinforced plastic composite construction.

Group 7 LAME means the holder of an aircraft maintenance engineer licence issued under regulation 31 of CAR and endorsed with a category airframes Group 7 rating as described in CAO 100.91.

specially qualified person means a person who:

(a) holds a category B1 licence issued under Part 66 of CASR; and

(b) is also 1 of the following:

(i) a person who at any time before 27 June 011 was a Group 7 LAME, provided that the person’s licence had not been cancelled by CASA; or

Note The relevant rating may, or may not, have expired, and may, or may not, have been renewed as long as it had once been held and the licence has not been cancelled.

(ii) a person who holds at least 1 of the following:

(A) AQF qualification MEA405;

(B) a Transport Canada AME licence endorsed with an “S” rating;

(C) a New Zealand AME licence endorsed with an aeroplane Group 4 rating;

(D) another qualification approved in writing by CASA as an appropriate qualification for performing composite maintenance;

(E) an authorisation issued by CASA under subregulation 42ZC (6) of CAR to perform composite maintenance.

Note A category B1 licence holder is entitled to carry out an inspection of a composite structure aircraft to determine the airworthiness of that aircraft.

7A.2Composite maintenance on a composite structure aircraft must be carried out by:

(a) a Part 145 organisation; or

(b) a CAR 30 maintenance organisation.

7A.3If composite maintenance is carried out on a composite structure aircraft by a CAR 30 maintenance organisation, the organisation must ensure that only a specially qualified person, employed by the organisation, performs the maintenance.

Note Apart from the separate privileges of a Part 145 organisation, composite maintenance of a composite structure aircraft may only be performed by a qualified person employed by a CAR 30 maintenance organisation. Therefore, such maintenance may not be carried out by a person referred to in paragraph 42ZC (4) (b) of CAR, sometimes known as an independent LAME or a LAME employed by an independent LAME.