Sofema Aviation Services is pleased to announce the availability of Part 145 Essentials with VO online training on SofemaOnline.
 
Sofema Aviation Services works closely with the aviation industry to design and deliver comprehensive online training that is relevant and responsive to the expectations of the Organizations, at minimum cost.
 
The focus of Sofema Training is to share the understanding regarding the role of regulatory compliance which is in fact minimum compliance. Our goal is to share that regulatory compliance is not in itself a challenge rather it presents opportunities that allow the organization to successfully optimize and grow the business.
 
With 45 years of Commercial Experience behind SAS, we look through the “Organisation” Eyes with a specific focus on the Practical interpretation of the regulations.

What is the difference between Policy, Process, and Procedures?
 
A Policy is essentially a set of basic principles and associated guidelines, formulated and enforced by the organization typically designed to demonstrate compliance with a regulatory obligation and in so doing demonstrate objectives and actions in pursuit of long-term goals.
 
A Process is typically understood to be a sequence of usually separate but linked procedures which, also require several resources to achieve.
 
Procedures provide instructions or guidance ideally in a clear, non-ambiguous, and effective manner describing in “simple language” how a particular task or activity should be accomplished.

Dangerous goods are “articles or substances which are capable of posing a risk to health, safety, property or the environment” and which are covered under the IATA regulations. IATA DGR Appendix A.
 
Many everyday items and substances can be dangerous when transported by air.
Due to the variations in temperature and pressure during a flight, some of these items may leak or break, generating toxic fumes or possibly starting a fire.

Employees who may come into contact with dangerous goods need to be aware of the nature of such goods, their potential for causing incidents and accidents and how they should be dealt with.
 
In addition anyone processing Passengers or performing security checks on them need to have a high level of awareness and to be vigilant regarding the potential for passengers to unknowingly carry Dangerous Goods on their person or to place in the personal baggage in the aircraft cargo compartment.

If you are involved in any way with the shipping of Dangerous Goods then you require training, even if you are not personally responsible you may still require Dangerous goods awareness training. (See the following Job Role definition for persons who require DG Awareness Training).
 
- Operators and Ground Handling Agent's staff accepting Cargo or Mail (other than Dangerous Goods) For Operators who Carry DG (Fly with DG)
- Operators and Ground Handling Agent's staff involved in the handling, storage, and loading of cargo or mail and baggage. For Operators who Carry DG (Fly with DG)
- Passenger Handling Staff – applicable to both DG and Non DG Carriers (Fly & No Fly DG)
- Flight Crew Members, Load Masters, Load Planners, and Flight Operations Officers / Flight Dispatchers (Where the operator carries Dangerous Goods (Fly with DG)
- Flight Crew Members (other than Flight Crew Members previously identified) – applicable to both DG and Non DG Carriers (Fly & No Fly DG)
- Security Staff who deal with the screening of passengers and crew and their baggage and cargo or mail (e.g. Security screeners, their supervisors, and staff involved in implementing security procedures.
- Operators and Ground Handling Agent's staff accepting Cargo or Mail (other than Dangerous Goods) For Operators who “DO NOT” Carry DG (No Fly with DG)
- Operators and Ground Handling Agent's staff involved in the handling, storage, and loading of cargo or mail and baggage.
- Flight Crew Members, Load Masters, Load Planners, and Flight Operations Officers / Flight Dispatchers (Where the operator does not carry Dangerous Goods (No Fly)

The effectiveness of the Safety Management System is directly connected to the management of Competence throughout the organisation.
 
The goal of an effective safety Management System (SMS) competence management system is to:
 
a) Reduce risks
b) Ensure compliance with all legal and other regulatory requirements
c) Comply with the organisation’s business objectives and ensure contractual commitments
d) Empower individuals to deliver their job role obligations in a safe, efficient and effective way
 
Delivering functional safety relies on a complex mix of Process Procedures, oversight mechanisms, Human Factors, and the impact of the Safety Culture within the workplace. Competence can be negatively affected by aspects of physical, medical, or mental fitness which should also be considered on an ongoing basis.
 
Competence is an essential attribute when considering behaviours in non-normal situations.
 
For a person to be considered competent, they need appropriate qualifications, together with experience, and other “soft skills” appropriate to their job role.

Coming soon on SofemaOnline: Dangerous Goods Awareness Training

All online trainings are designed to provide essential Dangerous Goods (DG) Training for all groups of staff who need to have an awareness of all aspects of DG by Air, relevant to the specific Job Requirements.

Each Training consists of “Mandatory” required aspects together with additional relevant awareness and guidance information.

Audit Scheduling
 
An essential requirement of our audit program is to cover the entire organizational system, notionally this should be done on an annual basis, we should also be mindful that some areas may require more frequent auditing, whilst some areas may be audited on a less frequent basis.

The primary reason to perform audits is to ensure regulatory compliance with external requirements and full compliance with internal organizational requirements. The secondary reason is to enable an understanding of opportunities to seek out improvement.
 
Audits should never appear as adversarial or confrontational, rather they are a method that should be fully supported by the auditee to demonstrate compliance in all necessary areas.

Over the years there have been a number of in-flight smoke and fire events where contaminants ignited by electrical faults allowed the fire to be sustained and spread. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have conducted aircraft inspections and found wiring contaminated with items such as dust, dirt, metal shavings, lavatory wastewater, coffee, soft drinks, and napkins. Sometimes wire bundles and surrounding areas have been found to be completely covered with dust.
 
In recent years both the FAA & Industry have realized that current maintenance practices may not be enough to address aging non-structural systems. Over time, insulation can crack or breach, thus exposing the conductor.

EWIS Stands for Electrical Wiring Interconnect System and it is an abbreviation for something that has been around for a long time. In fact, any wiring, even a single wire may be considered as EWIS.
 
Training related to Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) was introduced by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in August / September 2008. The details were to be found in 3 Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) documents, specifically AMC 20-21, AMC 20-22, and AMC 20-23.
 
EWIS is Mandatory training requiring both Initial and Recurrent elements with details of the identified groups being detailed in AMC 20-22.

Without a doubt, the above subjects are very important concerning the need to manage competence within both the Maintenance Management and Maintenance Delivery Environment recognizing improvement in the need to ensure competence. EASA mandated in February 2010 the need to ensure competence within the CAMO workplace. Commission Regulation (EU) No 127/2010 | EASA

This was amplified in 2011 when EASA again issued specific regulations associated with the management of competence ED Decision 2011-011-R - EASA - Europa
 
Maintenance Planning is a function of the Continuous Airworthiness Management Organization (CAMO) and both SAS and SOL offer a broad range of courses ranging from a single day to a 5-day integrated training.
 
Production Planning is an essential function of the EASA 145 organization and provides a structure whereby the effective management of the maintenance delivery process may be correctly coordinated and managed.
 
Technical Records is required for both the CAMO organization (Belonging to the Operator) and for the 145 organization (Belonging to the Maintainer).

The following information provides general support and guidance information to assist the Incoming Inspector in carrying out all elements of the required process. If there are any doubts the part should be placed in Quarantine and the Quality Manager contacted for resolution.
 
Check the packages(s) for transit damage - The package should be carefully examined to ensure that it does not suffer from any obvious damage during the delivery process. Any indications of superficial damage should be noted and appropriate action taken.

Buy Safety Management System Overview and Recurrent and Root Cause Analysis for Quality Assurance Practitioners with 45 USD discount

Another great promotion from SofemaOnline.com is here! This time with a look towards SMS & Quality.

The promo offer is valid till 31 March 2016.

SofemaOnline is a leading provider of online regulatory and vocational courses and is one of the few providers of online training for Maintenance Planning and Production Planning specialties.

You do not need to be pre-qualified to undertake any SofemaOnline trainings. All trainings are delivered in a logical step by step process with module exams.

It is accepted within our aviation community that the vast majority of aviation accidents (at least 80%) are directly caused by human action or more precisely by human error. However it would be wrong for us to assume that this is simply a manifestation of personal carelessness or even incompetence; rather, we should try to consider that the human error itself is actually the final element of a chain of events.

In fact, a major element that hitherto was not given sufficient consideration is the role of the organisation in aircraft incidents and accidents. Often the root cause or contributing factors are embedded within the organisations processes and procedures. Unfortunately, with hindsight, we are often able to understand the existence of numerous latent “exposures” (sometimes too late!).

What do we mean by Root Cause? Often people have a bias to stopping at an event, which itself has enables or causes, however with practice it becomes easier to work through the process and achieve meaningful results.

Let’s take some time to De-Mystifying Root Cause, when we talk about Root Cause we are simply trying to understand why “something” has happened – what were the fundamental causes and on the journey to discover as many of the contributing factors as we can.

So the focus is on “Why” and “How” a particular event or condition occurred so that we can develop the correct understanding.

Ensuring that we ensure compliance with the highest standards of Aviation Safety, is a responsibility that is shared between manufacturers, operators, regulators, and MRO (Maintenance Repair Organisations) or Aviation Maintenance organisations, but note that each organisational element has specific obligations to ensure compliance with all regulatory obligations.

We understand that the aviation maintenance environment is heavily regulated this is true in fact whether the activity is delivered in the Middle East, Europe, America, or the Far East.

Over the years we have seen a steady improvement in the technical safety of aircraft, however, the potential exposure introduced by the human element remains ever-present and needs to be addressed in the best way possible.

SofemaOnline features European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) & Gulf Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) selection of Technical Terms to be found in Aircraft Technical Records

Part 2: Check – GVI – DVI – SI
An examination (e.g., an inspection or test) to determine the physical integrity and/or functional capability of an item.

GVI - General Visual Inspection is the “Basic Inspection” which is usually performed without removing panels (other than quick release).
DVI - Detailed Inspection requires additional activity which will be identified within the task.
SI - Special Inspection will also be identified typically relates to Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).

Following the continued and successful development of our online training program - www.SofemaOnline.com, Sofema Aviation Services (SAS) is very pleased to announce that we have extended our software contract which supports our Joomla Learning Management System (LMS) program and we now have the capacity for 1000 concurrent users on SofemaOnline.com

Steven Bentley MD of SAS commented: "This is a very exciting development for SAS starting with a license for 100 users on www.SofemaOnline.com we have seen a steady increase in our customer base, as well as repeat business from our satisfied users.
With the continuous development of training courses together the addition of open courses and private in company online training, all available through our online platform, we expect to see the trend continue with steady growth throughout the coming years.

SofemaOnline features European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) & Gulf Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) selection of Technical Terms to be found in Aircraft Technical Records.

Part 1 Airworthiness Directive

An Airworthiness Directive or AD is issued when there is a problem with the aircraft which MUST be resolved. ADs are issued only by the Regulatory Authority – Federal Airworthiness Authority – FAA or EASA or CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) Compliance with ADs is mandatory!

Airworthiness Limitation Item

An Airworthiness Limitation (ALI) is issued after the design analysis has been carried out. So they are typically available at the delivery of the very first aircraft. Compliance with ALI’s is also mandatory.

SofemaOnline features European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) & Gulf Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Aircraft Technical Records

What are Aircraft Technical Records?

At first, it might seem obvious. However, as we dig a little deeper we uncover a set of rules and regulations that describes exactly what we mean by both Aircraft Technical Records as well as Aircraft Continuing Airworthiness Records. Typically Part M/CAR M Requirements relate to Continuing Airworthiness Records and Aircraft Records primarily relate to Part 145/CAR 145. However, there are differences to discuss, and in addition there are other Aircraft Technical Records that are relevant to either the CAR/Part M organisation or the CAR/Part 145 Organisation. 

Considerations related to the delivery of Safety Systems

Where is your organisations current focus? Is it on compliance or Performance?

This is a significant question because whilst compliance is of course mandatory it is through performance-related developments that we are able to optimise and drive significant savings within the organisation, whilst at the same time ensuring we deliver a safe and effective business environment.

Where does safety come from?
People or Procedures?

Well simply implementing process and procedure is not in itself going to provide an effective solution to the needs of the organisation.
We rely on people to deliver our safety management system and this, in turn, requires a specific and viable organisational culture and senior-led behaviour.