Jackonicko
(Extract from AP3456)
Generic Aircraft Release Process
With effect from 1 November 2004, the management of release for all new
aircraft is in accordance with the Generic Aircraft Release Process (GARP) (see JSP 553, Annex J, Appendix 3). Most of the existing aircraft projects retain their traditional aircraft release management procedures (and are now referred to as 'legacy'aircraft). However, legacy projects will, in due course, convert to GARP documentation.
The main changes introduced by GARP include the following:
a. There is no MA Release document.
b. The Safety Case and Aircraft Document Set reflect the 'as flown'
aircraft configuration.
c. When the aircraft is in service, the Safety Case will be 'owned' by the Release to Service Authority (RTSA).
d. Amendments to the Release to Service document are agreed jointly between the Integrated Project Team (IPT) and the RTSA.
e. Service Deviations will not apply under this process. RTS information which has not been derived from a fully substantiated Safety Case is termed a "Clearance with Limited Evidence" (CLE) and is recorded in Part F of the RTS.
Hope this helps.
Each will have his or her own take on this. I twitch at the “as flown” bit, when considered against various benchmark rulings from within MoD. To me, this is related to the “test and declare” status afforded some projects, whereby the trials a/c lacks kit (often Service Engineered Mods), kit does not meet its spec or where kit hasn’t been integrated properly; so the aircraft does not conform to, and cannot be assessed against, the Whole Aircraft Specification (not that many have one that’s current). In other words, it is common for the MAR build standard to be wholly unrepresentative of that actually needed to fulfil the operational role. It is up to the IPT to ensure that all subsequent build standards, of all aircraft in the fleet, can be traced back to the MAR aircraft. This is configuration control, the importance of which is often ignored. Very few aircraft types have such a robust audit trail. More often than not, an aircraft will be deemed safe upon acceptance off-contract (notwithstanding CDP’s ruling that this is not actually necessary, which rather negates the reason for having a contract) but it is quite a different thing to MAINTAIN that safety throughout its life. Again, the latter is often forgotten about, and certainly no longer understood or practiced by many in DPA.