Raising faults

When you raise a fault, you specify who found the problem, the symptoms observed, the item that is inoperative, the manner in which the item is inoperative, and the operational impact of the problem, including any impact on flight safety.

Faults found when a component is on-wing, are raised against the system where the component is installed. Raising faults against the failed system ensures that logbook faults are part of the aircraft records, and stay with the aircraft. It is often difficult to determine the root cause of a fault, so during the subsequent fault analysis, you can change the system that's associated with the fault. The ENFORCE_RAISE_FAULT_AGAINST_SYSTEM configuration parameter controls whether you can raise faults against a component, or only against systems. If a damage record is added to the fault, the damage record remains with the faulty component.

If a faulty component is removed from the aircraft, the fault is copied and attached to the removed inventory, so that the aircraft and the component both have a record of the fault. The fault on the aircraft is complete because the faulty component was replaced with a serviceable component. The fault on the component is still open and must be addressed. After the component is removed from an aircraft, you can edit the fault to update the failed system.

When you raise a fault, you have the option to create an ad hoc fault or to create the fault with a fault definition. Fault definitions describe a problem and they can have troubleshooting tasks that are used to see if the problem can be easily resolved by various corrective actions that don't involve a full-scale repair. To use a fault definition, someone within your organization must have created it beforehand. Fault definitions are typically used for faults that occur frequently and for electronic problems that pilots are alerted to by error codes. Selecting a fault definition when you raise a fault, populates the fault properties on the Raise Logbook Fault page. Maintenix also provides a history of the corrective actions that have been successful in correcting the problem on both the aircraft and fleet-wide.

The way that you raise faults in Maintenix depends on the severity of the fault, whether the aircraft is in the flight plan or in a heavy maintenance visit, whether you plan to defer or repair, and whether you use the select reference workflow.

Day of and overnight maintenance

In day-of and overnight maintenance, faults are often raised and deferred. In Maintenix when you raise a fault, you might see an option to select 'Log fault and defer'. This workflow isn't suitable if you use any of the following Maintenix functionality:

Electronic signatures.
Select reference.
MOC approval workflow for references that require authorization.
Automatic initiation of follow-on tasks when faults are deferred.

If your organization uses these features, then to defer a fault, you raise the fault and leave it open, then select a deferral reference.

Faults are also raised and deferred by phone with the pilot or technician relaying information to Maintenance Operations Control (MOC). A controller can raise a fault on behalf of the technician, and authorize its deferral.

In addition to raising and deferring faults, you have the following options, depending how Maintenixis configured:

Log fault and request part immediately: When a fault must be repaired urgently, if you are raising a fault from the inventory details, choosing this option either creates a work package for the fault or, if there is already an open work package for the inventory, adds the fault to the open work package. If there is already an open work package on the inventory, the work is done in the location specified on the open work package. After you create the fault, you can select a repair reference. The work package that's created when you choose this option starts automatically if there are no In Work work packages assigned to the aircraft, and if the fault's Found On date is not a future date.
Log fault and leave open: Choose this option when the fault must be analyzed and evaluated. With the fault created, you can select a reference to defer or repair the fault (which automatically triggers MOC review if required, works with electronic signatures, and automatically initiates follow-on tasks that are specified in the reference).; If the fault is created from a work package or a task, then Maintenix assigns the fault to that work package, with a corrective task status of ACTV. If the fault is created from an item of inventory or a flight, then Maintenix leaves the fault loose on the inventory with a fault status of Open. If the root inventory is an aircraft, the aircraft operating status is changed to Open, and the aircraft cannot be returned to service until the fault is fixed or deferred.
Log fault and close: With this option, you can't select a repair reference. Some organizations might use this option if a fault is already addressed and you want to create a record of the problem and what was done to fix it. When you select this option, Maintenix creates a work package with the same name as the fault, includes the fault in the work package, and completes both the fault and the work package.

Heavy or base maintenance execution

In heavy maintenance the typical workflow is that faults are found while executing tasks in the current work package. Faults are raised from the Task Details or Work Package Details pages, the fault is left open and listed on the Fault Evaluation tab for review by a senior technician, crew lead, or fault evaluator.

If a repair is completed and you are recording that the work was done, you might also log the fault and close it, but if you are adding a repair reference, you'll need to raise an open fault and select the reference before closing the fault.