Definitions
- AOG – means Aircraft On Ground
- DOA – means Design Organisation Approval
- DT – means Damage Tolerance
- ESG – means Extended Service Goal
- FC – means Flight Cycle
- FH – means Flight Hour
- ICA – means Continued Airworthiness
- RDAS – means Repair Design Approval Sheet
- RDAF – means Repair Design Approval Form
- RTS – means Return To Service
- TA – means Technical Adaption
- TH – means Threshold
Description
Since February 2021 the well-known “Repair Design Approval Sheet” (RDAS) has changed to “Repair and Design Approval Form” (RDAF).
RDAS and TA are two documents which comply with the same regulation for repairs (Part 21 Subpart M). Merging both into a single RDAF will bring clarification and harmonize the way Airbus provides in-service solutions and Instructions for Continued Airworthiness . This unique deliverable will ease the record of all repair actions (structure and system) at maintenance organization level. It will also simplify Customers’ requests and prevent any potential confusion for a Customer receiving a different document than the one initially requested.
The Repair and Design Approval Form is Airbus form of Approved Data to cover Structural Repairs on Airbus Commercial Aircraft as well as configuration changes / deviations previously covered in the TA form. For structural repair purposes, it is used when the applicable Structural Repair Manual or Aircraft Structural Repair is not sufficient to cover the damage or repair performed.
A RDAF is a solution for in service aircraft covering structure and/or systems, approving at least one of the following:
- Repairs and allowable damage,
- Instructions,
- Temporary Design Change covering installation of an additional equipment/device for troubleshooting, inspection, measurement or recording, partial modification/SB embodiment or modification/SB removal to come back to previous certified configuration.
For aircraft registered under the EASA member states, the requester is not required to obtain any further approval by the Authority of registration. For other aircraft, additional approval may be required until further notice from the Authority of registration.
There will be 3 categories of RDAF:
- CATEGORY A: permanent solution with no additional requirements
- CATEGORY B: permanent solution with inspection required
- CATEGORY C: temporary or life limited solution
The Header
Section 1 - RDAF Ref. & Issue: The reference and issue boxes are now consolidated. All subsequent fields are renumbered.
Section 10 - Damage/Request Description: Only the title of this field has changed. It will still describe the damage reported to Airbus.
Section 11 - Only the title of this field has changed. It will still summarize the repair provided by AIRBUS as confirmed by the Customer.
Limitations
Section 14 – Solution Life or Limitation: Only the title of this field has changed. It will still provide the duration of effectivity for the RDAF.
Section 15 – Classification: The RDAF now includes two additional choices: “Minor Temporary Change” and “N/A: Instruction”. Structural repairs will still only utilize the “Major Repair” or “Minor Repair” boxes similar to the original RDAS.
Section 16 – Categorization of Instructions for Continued Airworthiness: Only the verbiage in each checkbox has changed from “repair” to “solution”. The meaning of each remains.
Q&A
Question: Why did I receive a new RDAS reference rather than an up-issue, such as “Issue B”?
Answer: The only occasions when an up-issue will be delivered are when no physical change to the repair occurs on:
- Temp to perm conversions,
- Stage 1 to Stage 2/3 conversions,
- An amendment to Aircraft Data, or
- An extension of limitations
Question: I received a Category A RDAS but the FC / FH show 0 / 0 or were left blank. Is this acceptable?
Answer: Yes, with a Category A RDAS, since there is no repair life limit or inspection, the current FC / FH of the aircraft are not needed as a baseline value. The values may also be omitted altogether for non-serialized secondary structures.
Question: Why does my RDAS contain “TBD” in the INT and MET boxes?
Answer: If the calculated TH is beyond the ESG of the aircraft, the inspection will occur in a “hypothetical” operational period, meaning the inspection requirements for operating an aircraft in ESG2 are not yet known. In this case, it is important to still record the first inspection and if you intend to operate the aircraft beyond ESG, make sure to contact Airbus at least 12 months before reaching the TH in order to receive the inspection details.
Question: I received a Category C RDAS on a landing gear rib, but the repair seemed like it should be permanent.
Answer: RDAS’ issued against components which have a defined Safe-Life Limit such as many landing gear and key structural components may not be considered permanent as the Safe-Life Limit will still apply. In these cases, the Life Limitation box on the RDAS will reflect the same or lower Safe-Life Limit as the nominal aircraft.
Question: Is it possible to have a “MAJOR - Category A” RDAS?
Answer: Yes. While rare, there are some cases which require Airbus to select “MAJOR” with Category A. For example, a passenger door Ti Door Stop fitting with an oversized bolt through the fitting and frame. Since the fitting can no longer be installed at another stop location due to the oversized hole, the repair is “MAJOR” as the fitting’s interchangeability is affected.
Question: I received an RDAS with “MAJOR” checked but no repair category was checked, is this correct?
Answer: Yes. OEM’s may refer to this as a “Stage 1” approval. It simply means that a preliminary Fatigue and Damage Tolerance analysis was done at approval, but the full Fatigue &DT analysis requires additional time to complete. At Airbus, our maximum deferral is 6 months per EASA agreement. The actual deferral period will be listed in the Repair Life Limitation box. Well before the end of this deferral period, Airbus will complete the full Fatigue &DT analysis (“Stage 2 or 3” approval) and automatically send the final RDAS to the operator. No action is required on the part of the operator.
Question: I received a Category C RDAS with a Repair Life Limit of 50 or 200 FC. I was expecting this to be a permanent repair. What should I expect?
Answer: In some cases, if an operator is requesting an urgent or AOG response especially during weekends, a temporary RDAS valid for 50 or 200 FC will be provided to avoid a delay to RTS. In these situations, Airbus will make every attempt to confirm if any additional repair actions or inspections will be required in order to receive a permanent RDAS. But in some cases, this cannot be confirmed until the fatigue analysis is completed. Otherwise, Airbus will typically advise that a permanent RDAS will be delivered within two business days.
Question: My aircraft is in for a Lease Redelivery check and the Lessor will not allow temporary repairs. Can this be avoided?
Answer: Many times yes. It is important that you advise Airbus of this requirement in your original message and state whether Temporary and/or Stage 1 RDAS’ will be acceptable. Airbus cannot guarantee that a temporary RDAS can always be avoided. Please note that permanent solutions may require more time to be developed. Some requests which are beyond the standard deliverable may also be chargeable.
Question: I received a RDAS from Airbus before I even finished the repair. Why?
Answer: Your RDAS was provided under a policy Airbus calls Minimized Feedback. In cases where the repair instructions are considered to be straightforward and Airbus perceives the risk of deviation to be low, the approval documents will be prepared in parallel to the repair instructions. This initiative is intended to reduce the number of communications required and to shorten the overall time it takes to receive an approval for many repairs. Remember it is not the repair embodiment that Airbus is approving, but rather just the repair design. If you do experience a deviation and a RDAS was already provided under Minimized Feedback, don’t worry. Just submit the deviations to Airbus and we will work with you to provide an updated RDAS at no cost if reported within 4 weeks of RDAS issuance.