Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Quality Assurance Control for Aviation Companies in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Sector and Feedback for Non-Compliance

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     whether all companies in the maintenance, repair and overhaul sector of our aviation industry are required to appoint a quality assurance manager; and 

b.     whether and how a member of the public can provide feedback to the authorities of any non-compliance on the part of any quality assurance manager.

Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran:

1.     The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) administers the Singapore Airworthiness Requirements 145 – Maintenance Organisation (‘SAR-145’), which prescribes the standards and requirements to which any Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) company will need to achieve and maintain, in order to provide maintenance-related services to an owner and/or operator of a Singapore-registered aircraft.

2.     Under the SAR-145, approved companies are required to appoint a senior person as the quality manager, to ensure the company’s full compliance with SAR-145 requirements. The quality manager should possess qualifications, including holding an aircraft maintenance engineer’s licence or equivalent and having relevant quality assurance experience.

3.     Members of the public may provide feedback via the CAAS website. They can also make use of CAAS’ Tell Sarah portal, an online voluntary safety reporting system, to report safety hazards and unsafe practices. All Tell Sarah reports will be anonymised and kept confidential.