Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 36

1. Definitions. For purposes of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation—

(a) A product is an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, or appliance;

(b) An article is an airframe, powerplant, propeller, instrument, radio, or accessory; and

(c) A component is a part of a product or article.

2. General. (a) Contrary provisions of § 121.379(b) and § 135.437(b) of this chapter notwithstanding, the holder of an air carrier certificate or operating certificate, that operates large aircraft, and that has been issued operations specifications for operations required to be conducted in accordance with 14 CFR part 121 or 135, may perform a major repair on a product as described in § 121.379(b) or § 135.437(a), using technical data that have not been approved by the Administrator, and approve that product for return to service, if authorized in accordance with this Special Federal Aviation Regulation.

(b) [Reserved]

(c) Contrary provisions of § 145.201(c)(2) notwithstanding, the holder of a repair station certificate under 14 CFR part 145 that is located in the United States may perform a major repair on an article for which it is rated using technical data not approved by the FAA and approve that article for return to service, if authorized in accordance with this Special Federal Aviation Regulation. If the certificate holder holds a rating limited to a component of a product or article, the holder may not, by virtue of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation, approve that product or article for return to service.

3. Major Repair Data and Return to Service. (a) As referenced in section 2 of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation, a certificate holder may perform a major repair on a product or article using technical data that have not been approved by the Administrator, and approve that product or article for return to service, if the certificate holder—

(1) Has been issued an authorization under, and a procedures manual that complies with, Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 36-8, effective on January 23, 2004;

(2) Has developed the technical data in accordance with the procedures manual;

(3) Has developed the technical data specifically for the product or article being repaired; and

(4) Has accomplished the repair in accordance with the procedures manual and the procedures approved by the Administrator for the certificate.

(b) For purposes of this section, an authorization holder may develop technical data to perform a major repair on a product or article and use that data to repair a subsequent product or article of the same type as long as the holder—

(1) Evaluates each subsequent repair and the technical data to determine that performing the subsequent repair with the same data will return the product or article to its original or properly altered condition, and that the repaired product or article conforms with applicable airworthiness requirements; and

(2) Records each evaluation in the records referenced in paragraph (a) of section 13 of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation.

4. Application. The applicant for an authorization under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation must submit an application before November 14, 2006, in writing, and signed by an officer of the applicant, to the certificate holding district office charged with the overall inspection of the applicant's operations under its certificate. The application must contain—

(a) If the applicant is

(1) The holder of an air carrier operating or commercial operating certificate, or the holder of an air taxi operating certificate that operates large aircraft, the—

(i) The applicant's certificate number; and

(ii) The specific product(s) the applicant is authorized to maintain under its certificate, operations specifications, and maintenance manual; or

(2) The holder of a domestic repair station certificate—

(i) The applicant's certificate number;

(ii) A copy of the applicant's operations specifications; and

(iii) The specific article(s) for which the applicant is rated;

(b) The name, signature, and title of each person for whom authorization to approve, on behalf of the authorization holder, the use of technical data for major repairs is requested; and

(c) The qualifications of the applicant's staff that show compliance with section 5 of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation.

5. Eligibility. (a) To be eligible for an authorization under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation, the applicant, in addition to having the authority to repair products or articles must—

(1) Hold an air carrier certificate or operating certificate, operate large aircraft, and have been issued operations specifications for operations required to be conducted in accordance with 14 CFR part 121 or 135, or hold a domestic repair station certificate under 14 CFR part 145;

(2) Have an adequate number of sufficiently trained personnel in the United States to develop data and repair the products that the applicant is authorized to maintain under its operating certificate or the articles for which it is rated under its domestic repair station certificate;

(3) Employ, or have available, a staff of engineering personnel that can determine compliance with the applicable airworthiness requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

(b) At least one member of the staff required by paragraph (a)(3) of this section must—

(1) Have a thorough working knowledge of the applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations;

(2) Occupy a position on the applicant's staff that has the authority to establish a repair program that ensures that each repaired product or article meets the applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations;

(3) Have at least one year of satisfactory experience in processing engineering work, in direct contact with the FAA, for type certification or major repair projects; and

(4) Have at least eight years of aeronautical engineering experience (which may include the one year of experience in processing engineering work for type certification or major repair projects).

(c) The holder of an authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation shall notify the Administrator within 48 hours of any change (including a change of personnel) that could affect the ability of the holder to meet the requirements of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation.

6. Procedures Manual. (a) A certificate holder may not approve a product or article for return to service under section 2 of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation unless the holder—

(1) Has a procedures manual that has been approved by the Administrator as complying with paragraph (b) of this section; and

(2) Complies with the procedures contained in this procedures manual.

(b) The approved procedures manual must contain—

(1) The procedures for developing and determining the adequacy of technical data for major repairs;

(2) The identification (names, signatures, and responsibilities) of officials and of each staff member described in section 5 of this Special Federal Aviation Regulation who—

(i) Has the authority to make changes in procedures that require a revision to the procedures manual; and

(ii) Prepares or determines the adequacy of technical data, plans or conducts tests, and approves, on behalf of the authorization holder, test results; and

(3) A “log of revisions” page that identifies each revised item, page, and date of revision, and contains the signature of the person approving the change for the Administrator.

(c) The holder of an authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation may not approve a product or article for return to service after a change in staff necessary to meet the requirements of section 5 of this regulation or a change in procedures from those approved under paragraph (a) of this section, unless that change has been approved by the FAA and entered in the procedures manual.

7. Duration of Authorization. Each authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation is effective from the date of issuance until, November 14, 2009, unless it is earlier surrendered, suspended, revoked or otherwise terminated. Upon termination of such authorization, the terminated authorization holder must:

(a) Surrender to the FAA all data developed pursuant to Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 36; or

(b) Maintain indefinitely all data developed pursuant to Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 36, and make that data available to the FAA for inspection upon request.

8. Transferability. An authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation is not transferable.

9. Inspections. Each holder of an authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation and each applicant for an authorization must allow the Administrator to inspect its personnel, facilities, products and articles, and records upon request.

10. Limits of Applicability. An authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation applies only to—

(a) A product that the air carrier, commercial, or air taxi operating certificate holder is authorized to maintain pursuant to its continuous airworthiness maintenance program or maintenance manual; or

(b) An article for which the domestic repair station certificate holder is rated. If the certificate holder is rated for a component of an article, the holder may not, in accordance with this Special Federal Aviation Regulation, approve that article for return to service.

11. Additional Authorization Limitations. Each hold of an authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation must comply with any additional limitations prescribed by the Administrator and made a part of the authorization.

12. Data Review and Service Experience. If the Administrator finds that a product or article has been approved for return to service after a major repair has been performed under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation, that the product or article may not conform to the applicable airworthiness requirements or that an unsafe feature or characteristic of the product or article may exist, and that the nonconformance or unsafe feature or characteristic may be attributed to the repair performed, the holder of the authorization, upon notification by the Administrator, shall—

(a) Investigate the matter;

(b) Report to the Administrator the results of the investigation and any action proposed or taken; and

(c) If notified that an unsafe condition exists, provide within the time period stated by the Administrator, the information necessary for the FAA to issue an airworthiness directive under part 39 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

13. Current Records. Each holder of an authorization issued under this Special Federal Aviation Regulation shall maintain, at its facility, current records containing—

(a) For each product or article for which it has developed and used major repair data, a technical data file that includes all data and amendments thereto (including drawings, photographs, specifications, instructions, and reports) necessary to accomplish the major repair;

(b) A list of products or articles by make, model, manufacturer's serial number (including specific part numbers and serial numbers of components) and, if applicable, FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) or Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) identification, that have been repaired under the authorization; and

(c) A file of information from all available sources on difficulties experienced with products and articles repaired under the authorization.

This Special Federal Aviation Regulation terminates November 14, 2009.