Are Service Bulletins Mandatory?
It’s clear the answer is not so clearAt the EAA Chapter meeting the other night, the question came up regarding Service Bulletins (SB). The discussion was about a particular SB on the Catabria (relating to the U-bolts that hold on the landing gear). Almost everyone at the meeting who voiced an opinion believed that service bulletins are not required to be complied with, but are just suggestions. I had been told by some A&P's that they could be required, so when I got home I did some investigation.
Here is a link to an article that explains the situation rather well (go here for the article).Basically this is the not so short answer:
Most pilots when asked if SB's are mandatory answer “Yes, if they are incorporated into an FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD).”But it is not so simple.
Mechanics are required to use the manufacturer’s maintenance manual or Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) when performing maintenance (FAR 43.13). So, if that maintenance manual or ICA states that compliance with its service bulletins and service instructions is mandatory, that would make them mandatory regardless of whether or not an AD is issued.
The NTSB weighs in
NTSB Order No. EA-5221. This ruling was served on May 4, 2006. In it, the NTSB seems to set precedence that service bulletins can be mandatory even if they are not addressed in an AD.
The NTSB ruled on the case of Marion C. Blakey, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration (Complainant) vs. Therol Wayne Law (Respondent). Law is a mechanic who had his certificate suspended for 180 days by the FAA. The case involves an incident where Law performed an overhaul on a Textron Lycoming engine and approved it for return to service. The FAA contends that Law violated several regulations, and bases its certificate revocation on these multiple violations.
But there is one violation that the FAA charged him with that addresses service instructions. In that case, the FAA states that Law ordered a non-certificated employee to perform a magnetic particle inspection of the engine’s crankshaft.
So, you may be asking right about now, “What does having a non-certified mechanic perform a magnetic particle inspection have to do with service instructions?”
Well, Lycoming addresses NDT personnel requirements in a service instruction. Textron Lycoming Service Instruction No. 1285B (May 23, 1997) requires that “[p]ersonnel performing Magnetic Particle Inspection shall be qualified and certified in accordance with ASNT Personnel Qualification SNT-TC-1A or MIL-STD-410.” The FAA argument in Law’s case was that since the employee he ordered to perform the test was not qualified and certified in accordance with either standard, that employee was not authorized to perform that inspection.
In his defense, Law argued that mechanics are not required to comply with manufacturer’s service bulletins, instructions, or letters in the absence of an Airworthiness Directive mandating such compliance. Sound familiar?
The NTSB did not buy Law’s argument. The NTSB said, “We do not find this argument persuasive. While compliance with service instructions or service bulletins may not be mandatory in the absence of an Airworthiness Directive, a manufacturer may legitimately incorporate service publications into their manual by reference.” The board concluded that the Lycoming overhaul manual incorporates all future service instructions by reference. The board referenced the Lycoming overhaul manual where it says “In addition to this manual and subsequent revisions, additional overhaul and repair information is published in the form of service bulletins and service instructions. The information contained in these service bulletins and service instructions is an integral part of, and is to be used in conjunction with, the information contained in this overhaul manual.”
Most manufacturers are inserting the requirement that SB's be complied with in their ICA, so they become mandatory.