The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently issued a revised draft policy for approvals of minor modifications to products using Parts Manufacturer Authority (PMA). The FAA has asked for comments on its draft Policy Statement. Comments to the draft Policy are requested by May 1, 2016.
Modifications to products have typically been viewed as major changes in type design, requiring a supplemental type certificate (STC). However, this approach was excessive and inefficient for minor modifications. The FAA’s proposed policy recognizes the use of PMA as a suitable method to approve an article, and to provide for the article’s installation, when the installation would not constitute a major change to the product’s type design, and thus not warrant approval via a STC or type certificate amendment.
Under the prior versions of FAA Order 8110.42, it was unclear to industry and to Aircraft Certification Offices (ACOs) whether PMA was an acceptable process for approval when modifications were minor.
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