Aviation View - Dec 2023

6 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4 “Condition-based maintenance and aircraft health monitoring will improve the readiness and reduce technical cost drivers,” said Leonard Beauchemin, managing director of AeroTechna Solutions, LLC. “This process already has regulatory approval provided by FAA AC 43-218, Operational Authorization of Integrated Aircraft Health Management Systems.” Issued in July of 2022, the AC allows for the use of “onboard sensors, data transmission, and data analysis to provide information regarding aircraft performance and structural condition,” according to the document. “The result is then used to make aircraft airworthiness determinations that provide economic efficiencies while maintaining or enhancing operational safety.” “AC 43-218 is one – not the only – process bridge path forward to real-time, data-driven, continuous airworthiness (a.k.a. safety) and functional/structure failure management (a.k.a. operational performance) using highly precise digital methodologies of monitoring and analysis,” Beauchemin said. “Using data for aircraft and engine reliability is not new, as engine platforms have had this capability since the 1980s,” Beauchemin continued. “Predictive maintenance methodologies have been proven to improve The aircraft manufacturing industry’s competitive sales will drive the use of predictive data for both reliability and enhanced operations. It will be the standard in the future is to reduce the perceived complexity of data- driven services. On-condition maintenance is not an unusual term in modern flight operations; however, decision-making and processes supported by data-driven insights are a concept that many are eager to incorporate into their operations.” What is needed is a fact-based, predictive technology that lets us look at the real-time health of critical components and use that to overhaul or replace components at the optimum point in their lifecycle. THE BIG STEP IS BIG DATA New-generation business aircraft create billions of bytes of big data every time they fly, and emerging technologies enable operators to collect, analyze and share that information to accurately predict when parts will fail.