Enhancing aviation maintenance oversight through proactive quality auditing and human factors integration

In the past, mistakes made during aircraft maintenance have led to safety problems, which shows how important it is to have strong oversight of aircraft maintenance operations. This study's goal is to improve maintenance oversight at FAA Part 145 repair stations (which serve Part 121 airlines) by combining proactive quality auditing with human factors (HF) principles. We used both quantitative and qualitative methods. For example, we looked at audit records and incident reports and talked to maintenance workers. We created a proactive audit system based on a human factors framework (using SHELL model interfaces and Reason's Swiss Cheese theory) to find hidden mistakes before they get worse. The main results show that proactive quality audits, along with HF training and reporting, greatly lowered the number of maintenance mistakes and made it easier to follow the rules. Qualitative feedback showed that the culture of safety and reporting mistakes had gotten better. By looking at underlying human performance issues, adding human factors to auditing processes filled in gaps in oversight. These results show that a proactive, human-centered oversight model can make aviation maintenance much safer and more reliable.