To: chrisN
There are FMEAs and FMECAs depending on the contract. The C in FMECA means Criticality. In the FMECA the analyst determines the criticality of the failure and if it will migrate upwards to the top level. The criticality level can range from I to IV with I being the most critical or from IV to I with IV being the most critical depending on if you are working a civil program or a military program. In the case of the A-310 program it was a specification requirement that the FMEA be taken to the very lowest level. All level 2 contractors complied with this requirement except the manufacturer of the Flap/Slat computer, which was the most critical component in the secondary flight control system.
Another requirement of the contract was that when a problem was uncovered relative to reliability, maintainability or systems safety Airbus had to be notified. I uncovered two major problems and carried them up to my management, the next level and then up to BAe. At the two lower levels the management would not tell Airbus of the problems because they did not want to incur the cost of the modification. The top level (BAe) said they sympathized with my problem but they could not help. They were responsible for the certification of the wing. The two lower levels of management felt that if Airbus discovered the problem they would write a change order paying for the change. Airbus never discovered the problem because they never tested for it.
I worked on another program where the department manager in a pique decided that there would be no catastrophic failures in the FMECA. This meant that the Safety Hazards Analyses did not consider catastrophic failures. This aircraft was certified in the USA, Italy, Canada and the UK and it has suffered several catastrophic failures all of which had been removed from the FMEAs.
Shall I continue?
