PERFORMANCE TITLE - SUB-TITLE MONITORING OF IFE SYSTEMS - AIRBUS VISION FOR THE FUTURE

THE A380 MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME IS BORN! - A MAJOR SUCCESS BY ALL INVOLVED

Performance monitoring of IFE systems

Airbus vision for the future
* AIRMAN (Aircraft Maintenance Analysis) is a real-time health monitoring and troubleshooting solution developed by Airbus. AIRMAN constantly analyses the status messages sent by aircraft systems and helps airlines to optimize their maintenance and troubleshoot their aircraft to: Better anticipate possible aircraft technical events. Improve their aircraft dispatch reliability. Cut their maintenance and operational costs. Improve their maintenance task efficiency.

Marc Virilli

Aircraft Health Monitoring and Management has been a constant major subject for Airbus for some years now and solutions for both raw OMS (Onboard Maintenance System) data acquisition such as BITE (Build In Test Equipment) and ACMS (Aircraft Condition Monitoring System) plus on-ground processing (AIRMAN*) have been developed and are available on all the Airbus current product line. Enhancements of these systems are implemented at the opportunity of each new aircraft as well as new services aimed at improving pro-active and predictive maintenance based on performance monitoring and other state-ofthe-art technologies.

The A380 maintenance programme is born!

A major success by all involved
On 23 December 2005, Airbus received acceptance of the A380 Maintenance Review Board Report (MRBR) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This significant achievement is one major step in the A380 scheduled maintenance activity, but not the first, nor the last. This article describes the way this milestone was achieved thanks to the very active and dedicated involvement of hundreds of people from operators, authorities, suppliers and Airbus in the MRB process.

CONTACT DETAILS Marc Virilli Head of Cabin and Cargo Systems Airbus Customer Services Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 46 41 Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 44 25 [email protected]

Conclusion
This approach is global for all systems installed on Airbus aircraft and includes IFE (In Flight Entertainment) systems. Both proposals in the previous article from Emirates Airline are very valid ones, which in their principle complement investigation paths under study in Airbus. In the next issue of FAST Magazine, we will share in more detail Airbus vision for the future for IFE Systems trend monitoring and enhanced maintenance processes using the aircraft as a major node of a network as shown above. Christian Delmas Rgis Broutee

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Director Maintainability and Maintenance Engineering Airbus Customer Services

Director Maintenance Planning & Services Airbus Customer Services

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The A380 MRBR

For more details on the MRB process and ISC organization see the article in FAST31 December 2002.

APPLICATION FOR THE MAINTENANCE REVIEW BOARD PROCESS

Maintenance Engineering organized three working sessions with the airworthiness authorities to finalize the preparation of the PPH before submission to the Industry Steering Committee. The European JAA represented by the GSAC (France), the LBA (Germany), the CAA (UK) and also the FAA (USA) and the CASA (AUS) contributed to the A380 PPH preparation.
FEBRUARY 2003: THE FIRST INDUSTRY STEERING COMMITTEE

Lufthansa Technik was nominated ISC chair by the operators panel, Airbus co-chaired the ISC and GSAC was nominated MRB chair by the JAA. The ISC also gave the A380 PPH preliminary acceptance and validated the overall planning definition to help the first A380 operator Singapore Airlines to get a CAAS approved Operator Maintenance Programme for EIS (Entry Into Service). As a consequence, the overall MRBR planning highlighted the need for the first MPP submission to the MRBs for approval 12 months before EIS. The ISC also defined the organization in charge of the development of the MRBR, relying on nine MWGs.

Industry Steering Committee schedule

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In December 2000, Airbus officially launched the A380 maintenance programme. To meet certification targets, Airbus must comply with the JAR/FAR 25-1529 Instructions for Continued Airworthiness applicable at that time. As the A380 Type Certification (TC) holder, Airbus must prepare, revise as necessary and submit for approval to the relevant airworthiness authorities the initial minimum scheduled maintenance/ inspection requirements that are applicable to the A380 aircraft. Just after the A380 first metal cut (Jan 2002), Airbus officially applied for the Maintenance Review Board (MRB) process to the Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA) in June 2002. At this time Airbus initiated an MRB process compliant with: JAA OPS Administrative & Guidance Material Section 2Part 2 Chapter 16 FAR 121 AC 121-22A At the time of application, the applicable Maintenance Steering Group method was MSG3 Rev 2002.1. This is the revision that was used to develop the A380 MRBR.
THE A380 POLICY AND PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

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From 18 to 20 February 2003, Airbus organized the first A380 Industry Steering Commitee (ISC), whose responsibilities were: To approve the A380 PPH. To monitor the development of the A380 MRBR and the different Maintenance Working Groups (MWG) activities. To submit the A380 Maintenance Programme Proposal to the MRBs for approval. First ISC meeting participants

To ensure an optimized contribution from all ISC/MWG and MRB participants, the ISC also set up an intensive planning for training sessions.
FEBRUARY TO JULY 2003: THE TRAINING SESSIONS AND A380 PPH APPROVAL
Airbus maintenance training sessions

From June to November 2002 Airbus Maintenance Engineering developed the A380 Policy and Procedures Handbook (PPH) which, compared to the MSG3 document, provides additional procedures, details, guidance, interpretation of the rules, maintenance interval selection, form sheets, etc. necessary for analysis. The PPH also provides detailed work steps, responsibilities and scheduling. Between November 2002 and January 2003, Airbus

From February to July 2003, Airbus Maintenance Engineering organized five one-week training sessions around the world with the support of hosting customers, Airbus Engineering and A380 Programme organizations. All in all, more than 350 people from customers, airworthiness authorities, vendors and suppliers were given a general familiarization of the A380 design and trained on the A380 PPH.

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JUNE 2003: THE PPH APPROVAL

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In the mean time, thanks to the lessons learned during the training sessions, the PPH was updated and got its first approval by the ISC and acceptance by the MRBs in June 2003. The major highlights of this PPH are the aircraft yearly utilization for medium/long haul routes. The A380 PPH becomes the industry benchmark in the opinion of the MRBs and operators who report it as the best they have ever seen.

During Maintenance Working Groups activities

Task completion progress

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The MWG activity

From June 2003 to March 2005, the nine MWGs reviewed the MSG3 analyses for A380 systems, structures and zones selecting the most appropriate scheduled maintenance tasks to ensure a safe, reliable and economical aircraft operation. During this 21 month period, more than 900 MSG3 dossiers prepared by Airbus and major vendors maintenance engineers, representing the equivalent of more than 30,000 MSG3 analysis pages (equivalent) were reviewed during 54 MWG meetings from which close to 1,000 scheduled maintenance tasks were selected.

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The first A380 Maintenance Programme Proposal (MPP)

Thanks to the efficient MSG3 analyses production and quality monitoring process controlled by the ISC, the initial target was met: The A380 MPP is ready for review and acceptance by the A380 ISC in March 2005. During the tenth meeting in March 2005 the ISC completed review of the MWG results and concluded that the selected scheduled maintenance tasks and associated intervals are the most appropriate ones. The ISC then accepted the compiled MPP. On 8 April 2005, some days prior to the A380 maiden flight, the first A380 MPP was submitted to the MRBs for acceptance according to the planning set up more than two years earlier. Early involvement in design phases and very active operator involvement were two key issues. Most of the initial technical objectives were met in the A380 MRBR proposal, particularly the objectives associated with task selection and interval definition.

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A380 PPH aircraft utilization assumptions

This was not achieved by chance. First of all, the active involvement of Airbus maintenance engineers in the very early stages of the aircraft design development was essential. The A380 maintenance tasks interval targets had been selected at the beginning of the A3XX story, well before it became the A380. All through the concept and design phases of the A380 programme, Airbus maintenance and design engineers worked together to optimize scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Their target was to offer an A380 with optimized maintenance costs to operators, while maintaining safety as the primary objective. All design specifications are defined so that the A380 design fulfils the initial MRBR targets and also remains compatible with future maintenance programme evolutions according to in-service experience. All through the A380 design development and the MRB process, operators, airworthiness authorities and Airbus challenged each other, contributing to the continuous improvement of the overall MRB process with the common objective to offer the A380 with the most appropriate maintenance programme to support a safe, reliable and economical aircraft operation. This led to the development of very thorough MSG3 analyses and the selection of the most appropriate tasks and intervals.

Consequences of the A380 MRBR proposal acceptance versus the MRBR approval
Readers familiar with the MRB Process may wonder why MRBR Proposal acceptance is mentioned instead of MRBR approval in this article. According to the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) JAR/FAR 25-1529, an approved MRBR is required at the latest for aircraft EIS. However, as agreed by the ISC the A380 MRBR planning has been developed in such a way that enough time is provided to the first operator to get approval for its Operator Maintenance Programme (OMP) by its local authorities. Consequently, review of the MSG3 analyses started in July 2003 based on the design known at that time. Because of this and the numerous design changes that typically happen during the design and flight test phases, the MRBs were not in a position to approve a document covering the aircraft EIS design standard at this time. In addition, during the development and review of the MSG3 analyses by the MWGs, some
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THE A380 MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME IS BORN! - A MAJOR SUCCESS BY ALL INVOLVED

The MRBR Proposal will be updated according to the changes identified during the March 2005 - June 2006 MWG and ISC meetings and submitted to the MRBs to be approved prior to EIS. This will become the first A380 approved MRBR. The first A380 operator, at that time, will only have to integrate the changes in its OMP in order to get approval from its local airworthiness authority. This agreement offers benefits: To the first A380 operator who can anticipate their programme and planning to minimize workload just prior to EIS and limit it to a programme revision. To all A380 operators who can prepare in advance their maintenance programme and planning. To local authorities who have contributed to the MRB process and can approve their operators OMP more quickly.

In-service experience (AD/CN, Service Bulletins (SB), Service Information Letters (SIL), All Operators Telex (AOT)) The MPD provides additional information for each scheduled maintenance task such as, access, zones, source data, preparation work, man hours, elapsed time and reference to the associated Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) procedure. Similar requirements for different sources are consolidated in the MPD at task and/or Threshold/ Interval level. At this stage of the A380 programme, the MPD contains only data coming from the MRBR proposal.
A SIMPLIFIED MPD WITH NEW FEATURES

Maintenance Planning Document on CD

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assumptions on Flight Manual (FM) and Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) are made. These assumptions must be cleared for the MRBR approval. To protect the first A380 operators interests an agreement is therefore found between operators, MRBs and Airbus: The first MRBR will be called MRBR proposal and will not be approved but accepted by the EASA. It will thus be recognized as an acceptable basis by the first operators local airworthiness authority for approval of the first OMP. All design changes will be analysed by Airbus maintenance engineering for MSG3 analyses update and review by the relevant MWG prior to submission of the MPP to the MRBR for approval. This process is a standard one that remains applicable throughout the aircraft life in the MRBR revision process. All assumptions taken and recorded during review of the MSG3 analyses must be confirmed, if not, MSG3 analyses and MRBR must be reviewed and updated accordingly.

New task numbering concept

The A380 Maintenance Planning Document

A SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE DATA REPOSITORY

Parallel to the A380 MRB process, Airbus Maintenance Planning organization prepared the A380 Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) with new and enhanced features. The MPD is a single reference for all repetitive tasks recommended by Airbus and is a non-approved document that contains approved and non approved scheduled maintenance requirements from: The MRBR The Airworthiness Limitation Items document (ALI) The Certification Maintenance Requirements document (CMR)

Compared to other Airbus programmes, the A380 MPD is simplified. Volume 2 is deleted as: The zoning and access illustrations previously covered in section 10 and 11 are redundant with AMM Chapter 06 information. The illustrations of the Structure Significant Items (SSI) from the MRBR structures section, previously covered in section 12 are now available in the relevant AMM procedures. With experience gained from other Airbus programmes and in agreement with the A380 ISC, a new task numbering concept was introduced to be self-explanatory and remain compatible with future maintenance programme and planning evolution. To assist operators maintenance planning organizations, a new appendix for maintenance planning is available. In this, all MPD tasks whatever the source, are packaged into maintenance checks according to typical aircraft operations.

New appendix for maintenance planning

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A SIMPLIFIED MPD AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE FORMATS

Next steps
As previously mentioned the A380 MRBR Proposal acceptance by EASA is the first major step in the development of the A380 scheduled maintenance documentation. It was not the first one, and it will not be the last.
THE MRB PROCESS

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The A380 MPD and associated features are available in multiple formats to meet operators expectations and provide an easy interface with their systems.

worthiness authorities to perform the MSG3/SSA (System Safety Assessment) compatibility check that leads to selection of the Certification Maintenance Requirement (CMR) (compliance with JAR/FAR 25-1309). As with the MRBR development process, early involvement of Airbus maintenance engineers during the design phases is essential to reduce the number of CMRs to the minimum.
THE MPD

sions will combine source document revisions as much as possible according to the different planning and document approvals.

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Following ISC, MRBs and Airbus agreement, the A380 MRBR will be updated according to design changes to obtain a formal approval for EIS of the first aircraft. Then, once the A380 becomes an in service aircraft, the MRBR will follow a standard revision process according to: Design changes New regulations In-service experience feedback For this, it is essential that from day one, A380 operators collect in appropriate databases the results of the scheduled maintenance tasks (findings and nil findings) to later support MRBR evolution exercises.
THE AIRWORTHINESS LIMITATION ITEM

The A380 MPD will be revised every time one of the source documents is revised. To minimize the burden on operators maintenance planning organizations, MPD revi-

CONTACT DETAILS Christian Delmas Director Maintainability and Maintenance Engineering Airbus Customer Services Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 14 04 Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 28 72 [email protected] Rgis Broutee Director Maintenance Planning & Services Airbus Customer Services Tel: +33 (0)5 67 19 02 13 Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 22 78 [email protected]

Conclusion
A marvellous experience and a real team spirit. The acceptance of the A380 MRBR proposal by EASA is a major step in the A380 maintenance programme development. This was achieved thanks to a very efficient ISC organization where operators, airworthiness authorities, major suppliers and Airbus joined efforts to give the A380 a maintenance programme at the same level as the aircraft: A reference in the industry. Hundreds of thousands of working hours have been invested in the A380 MRBR, more than 8,000 meeting man-days, more than 30,000 equivalent pages of documents prepared, reviewed and validated by hundreds of people. All this was performed in a very professional and very friendly atmosphere. The result is that the A380 has a maintenance programme ready for implementation. The MPD provides the tools to help operators develop their maintenance programme (OMP) get it approved by their local airworthiness authority and prepare the associated A380 maintenance schedule. Airbus Maintenance Planning Organization offers customized services to help operators in these activities. The A380 has not yet been delivered to its first customer but the MRBR and the MPD have already switched from the development to the revision phase. Airbus Maintenance Planning organization has developed a specific assistance for the Flight Test department. The A380 flight test aircraft scheduled maintenance is already performed according to the A380 MPD, customized to the aircraft definition and operation. A very efficient result First technical evaluations of the A380 maintenance programme, based on standard aircraft operation confirms that the initial MRBR targets are met: An equivalent A check can be scheduled every 750fh An equivalent C check can be scheduled every 24 months/6,000fh Structure inspections can be scheduled every 6 and 12 years This leads to significant maintenance man-hours and maintenance cost savings compared to aircraft with similar operations.

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AirN@v module AirN@v / Planning

In particular, the AirN@v module AirN@v / Planning offers the possibility to be 100% compatible with the other AirN@v new generation of technical data browsing tools, which are easy to use and interactive (see article in FAST 35).

The Airworthness Limitation Item (ALI) process has also started with the target to get the A380 ALI document approved for the A380 type certification (compliance to JAR/FAR 25-571). A380 fatigue and damage tolerance evaluations will be performed and associated scheduled maintenance requirements will be published in the A380 document at type certification. The ALI will later be updated once results from the fatigue test cell are available.
THE CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENT

The process has also started. Two Certification Maintenance Coordination Committee meetings have taken place with operators and air-

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