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Have you ever wondered how the FAA can track trends and determine if a particular structural part, component or appliance installed on an aircraft is demonstrating greater failure rates than expected?
This identification process is greatly aided with a submission of FAA form 8010-4, Malfunction Or Defect Report. Prompt reporting is essential for the system to work. Don't always assume that this form is filed when maintenance is performed by an in house or manufacturer authorized repair facility. Though it should, it may not be. One can understand the reasons.
So, if you have experienced repetitive failures or even one failure of a component (especially new components recently purchased) it would behoove you to file an 8010-4. It only takes a few minutes. In the event that the trend line displays more nuances than what would be considered normal, a more thorough investigation will follow. If enough reports are filed and a defect or potential safety flight issue is determined, there could be a component recall action and your expensive dollars invested may not be in vain after the FAA directs the manufacturer to take action.
An example would be after you remove your trusty vacuum system that usually lasts 500 hours and you replace your panel with a digital suite and both display back up batteries take a dump after a year or less. THIS, can kill you in IMC with a simple aircraft electrical failure or electrical fire after the "Master Switch.....Off" step in the checklist is accomplished (if no other redundant back up instrumentation is installed).
It's a simple form that takes only a couple of minutes to fill out.
Current information:
https://medium.com/faa/welcome-to-the-new-service-difficulty-reporting-system-3ccc8cd4744c
Reference information:
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/ac20-109a.pdf
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/FAA_8010-4_7-19.pdf
This identification process is greatly aided with a submission of FAA form 8010-4, Malfunction Or Defect Report. Prompt reporting is essential for the system to work. Don't always assume that this form is filed when maintenance is performed by an in house or manufacturer authorized repair facility. Though it should, it may not be. One can understand the reasons.
So, if you have experienced repetitive failures or even one failure of a component (especially new components recently purchased) it would behoove you to file an 8010-4. It only takes a few minutes. In the event that the trend line displays more nuances than what would be considered normal, a more thorough investigation will follow. If enough reports are filed and a defect or potential safety flight issue is determined, there could be a component recall action and your expensive dollars invested may not be in vain after the FAA directs the manufacturer to take action.
An example would be after you remove your trusty vacuum system that usually lasts 500 hours and you replace your panel with a digital suite and both display back up batteries take a dump after a year or less. THIS, can kill you in IMC with a simple aircraft electrical failure or electrical fire after the "Master Switch.....Off" step in the checklist is accomplished (if no other redundant back up instrumentation is installed).
It's a simple form that takes only a couple of minutes to fill out.
Current information:
https://medium.com/faa/welcome-to-the-new-service-difficulty-reporting-system-3ccc8cd4744c
Reference information:
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/ac20-109a.pdf
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Form/FAA_8010-4_7-19.pdf
