Do We Actually Need an MEL?
For Part 125 and 135 RVSMs and certifications, the answer is always yes, but for Part 91 RVSMs the answer is sometimes. See what your FSDO wants or insists upon.
How Long Does This Take?
A few days after we have the worksheets back from you. We get your aircraft make, model and serial number and then send you a tailored worksheet specific to the aircraft. When that is back, the first draft MEL is usually available within a couple days and then you do the review, ask about changes and we get the first set for the FAA.
In other than the most urgent AOG situations, allow yourself a couple weeks and then the ball is in the FAA's court and that can take from a few days to weeks.
What Does the MEL Cost?
The MELs Available Page Has Prices By Aircraft Group.
What MELs has GLN Done?
Well, about 2,500 MELs over the past 20 years ranging from single-engine aircraft to most of the airline fleet. We recently completed the MELs, Procedure Documents, and CDL for two of the world's most pristine Executive Configured B767 aircraft. Plus, we did the MELs for Boeing's own flight department aircraft including their BBJ aircraft! United Airlines Avolar MELs, FlexJet, most of NetJets and hundreds and hundreds of others.
What is an MEL
An MEL identifies equipment installed on an aircraft (like radios, seats, lights, air conditioning, heaters, indicators, etc. but not items such as engines, controls, or structural items) that may, under certain conditions (called provisos) be inoperative and still have the aircraft maintain its airworthiness--though sometimes with limitations on how you can fly the aircraft (no ice, no night, altitude limits, etc.).
The MEL is broken down into sections following the ATA (Air Transport Association) coding, so that items in group 21 (Air Conditioning) or 34 (Radios) are the same in each MEL. The MMEL and most MELs are then structured into several columns, first listing specific items, a repair time limit (indicated as an A-B-C-D code), a column with the number installed (2 VHF radios, 7 seats, etc.), the number required for dispatch and finally a column with the limits, or provisos and often with the associated (O) Operations or (M) Maintenance actions you must perform or adhere to before granted the MEL relief.
What is a Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL)?
The MMEL is the FAA Source Document. It is a master for a specific aircraft made and model and sometimes a series. The updates to the MMEL are what trigger the changes to the aircraft-specific MEL.
Does GLN Do Foreign MELs?
Yes. We have JAR formats, which are similar to FAA formats and we do MELs for various other authorities, such as Bermuda and Aruba, countries of "convenience" for some certifications and RVSM.
What are (M) and (O) Procedures?
Inside the MMEL are references to using an (O) Operations or (M) Maintenance procedure in the right, proviso, column. Generally, you have to develop the (O) and (M) procedures and this is clearly the most difficult part of an MEL approval. Some of the manufacturers have their own procedures that you can download as a user, such as Gulfstream, Bombardier, Boeing (in some cases) and others. Cessna will sell you the procedure documents for a nominal fee and they are very good and can be incorporated into your MEL. But, in other cases the manufacturer does not provide any guidance leaving you on your own, which slows down the approval process.
GLN has an extensive library of procedures developed in the course of completing more than 1,000 MELs. This is included in the GLN MEL processes. Sometimes, but rarely, we may ask for a specific (O) or (M) procedure if it is unique or a newly added item to the MMEL. You may change the procedures we use and incorporate what you may want used for your company operations. However, if there are factory procedures available, we do recommend that they be used if for no other reason than FAA approval is easier.
Can I Edit My Own Procedures?
Yes. At the first review you can edit the procedures. We generally have to work out what is the best for each operator, preferring first to use any factory procedures and then any that have been previously approved.
What are the Placarding Issues?
Placarding is required--maybe, and sometimes. The FAA used to mark an (*) in the commend column of items that needed placarding, but that ended some years ago and the FAA said placarding wording and location was up to the operator. BUT, this creates a problem as some inspectors insist that everything needs a placard and others do not and an electronic panel is difficult to placard. We have stickers, but we also have a placarding form that is similar to some airlines in that the placard is inside a folder with a list of items and form has the inoperative items, the wording and is left in the book as the "placard." We will work with you and your inspector. Usually, the FAA is not causing problems.
How Are Updates Handled and What is the Cost?
Updates average about every 2.7 years, with some being 3-5 years and some new models, in the early years getting updates, sometimes more than once a year. As the MMEL is updated you can notify us if the MEL needs a change. Usually it does not unless you changed equipment. Updating a current MEL is in reality a new MEL for new FAA approval and many of the recent updates have renumbered entire sections with dozens of new items. So, on an update we send out a new MEL worksheet.
The update charge is on the eStore and is about half of the MEL cost, even as it is basically the same work, or more to get this right. An update is in fact an entirely new MEL.
The MEL must be updated if the MMEL changes from a numbered version, such as from revision 3-4, but if only a letter change, such as from 3b to 3c, you do not have to submit a change unless it directly applies to your aircraft.
How Many Copies of the MEL Do You Get?
Two copies are included with the purchase. You receive two MEL binders, either two full-sized or one full-sized and one for the aircraft. The full-sized one is for the office or give to the FAA and one is Jeppesen-sized, in our binders, for carrying in the aircraft. You can purchase additional copies for yourself or the FAA, but the FAA usually does not keep a copy as they might have in the past.
You can buy additional MEL binder sets for the FAA, but less than a quarter of the FAA offices want a copy of the MEL to keep. |
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