Standardization News

A new ASTM International standard will provide guidance in evaluating aircraft alterations. ASTM International’s aircraft systems committee (F39) approved the standard, which will soon be published as F3361.

According to ASTM International member Dale Scheid, an avionics service engineer at Air Methods Corporation, the new standard will help people who need to determine whether changes to certified aircraft should be characterized as major or minor.

In the U.S., major alternations require approval of the Federal Aviation Administration while minor alterations only require data acceptable to the FAA.

Scheid says that there are many beneficiaries of the new standard, including:

• Certificated airframe and power plant mechanics;
• Certificated repair stations;
• Aircraft owners; and,
• Aircraft operators.

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