Minimum requirement?
Hi guys,
Thanks for all your input.
I do agree with the basic principle that to maximise the benefit of the HUMS a regular download AND analysis routine should be followed. I used to operate in the North Sea and I know that, depending on the operator, the practise was to download AND analyse it either between flights or at the end of each days in the worst case scenario.
Off the top of my head, I believe that there was an MEL entry which would allow an aircraft to be flown for up to 8 flights within 72 hours since the moment that a faulty HUMS is detected (provided that the aircraft is not at base or a place where it could be repaired). However I assume that this MEL entry was dictated more by the nature of the operation, and not by the need to satisfy an EASA / JAR requirement.
Now I’m in an operation that it’s simply JAR regulated, but with a completely different culture when compared with the North Sea.
The AW139 MEL doesn´t have any entry related to the HUMS. This implies that the system must be operative. However the RFM obviously does not mentione how often this information has to be downloaded and analysed. Common sense and good practise would say that it had to be done regularly, ideally daily as you all have expressed above, however we all know that common sense is not always reflected in the way regulations are written.
Any ideas of what the minimum requirements for downloading/analysing frequency is (if there is any)? Only ‘Mitchaa’ has hinted that there was nothing ‘set out in stone by the CAA’.
Thanks for your help.