§44733 Oversight of Repair Stations Located Outside the United States

Summary

The FAA must set up a safety review system for all part 145 repair stations based on the kind and difficulty of work they do. The system must make sure foreign repair stations get inspections based on risk and follow U.S. standards when possible. The FAA must consider inspection results from foreign aviation authorities that have maintenance agreements with the U.S., and those agreements must allow the FAA to do its own inspections when safety worries come up. The FAA must tell the Senate Commerce committee and the House Transportation committee within 30 days after it starts formal talks on a new maintenance agreement. The FAA must publish a yearly report that explains how it tracks where part 121 work is done, shows a staffing plan for inspectors, describes inspector training, and reviews how well FAA and foreign inspectors are monitored. The Secretary of State and Transportation must ask ICAO members to set international drug and alcohol testing standards. Within 1 year the FAA must propose a rule requiring alcohol and drug testing for part 145 employees who do safety-sensitive work on part 121 aircraft, consistent with host-country law. The FAA must do one unannounced annual inspection of every foreign part 145 repair station and may do more inspections based on risk. After the 2016 FAA law extension, the FAA must pay special attention to foreign stations that do heavy maintenance for part 121 carriers and must look at how often carriers must fix problems after that work. The FAA may review carrier records needed for that work. Each year a part 121 air carrier that had heavy maintenance done outside the U.S. must report, by the end of the next fiscal year, where the work was done, what work was done, when it finished, any safety failures found within 30 days after return to service that came from that work, and the certificate number of the person who approved return to service. The FAA will analyze these reports, require fixes for safety issues, and protect the reported information under the same rules as voluntary safety data. The FAA may not approve new part 145 applicants from countries rated Category 2 under the IASA program (renewals allowed), may refuse new maintenance agreements or new heavy-maintenance contracts with Category 2 countries while they remain Category 2, and must, within 18 months, require covered repair stations’ supervisors and persons who approve returns to service to hold part 65 mechanic/repairman certificates or accepted equivalents and be available for consultation during heavy maintenance. Definitions: covered repair station — a part 145 repair station outside the U.S. that does heavy maintenance for a part 121 air carrier; heavy maintenance work — a C-check, D-check, or similar major airframe work (including on-wing engines); part 121 air carrier — an airline certificated under part 121; part 145 repair station — a repair shop certificated under part 145.