By Western-Pacific FAASTeam
August 2010

As a professional maintenance technician, you no doubt have been involved in conversations with a fellow mechanic when you discovered an FAA regulation that appeared outdated, did not make sense, should be changed, or maybe even removed? In many cases, those conversations end in frustration and the feeling that the regulation is just not connected to reality and you can not do anything about it. But it doesn’t have to end that way because you do have a means to do something about it. Title 14 CFR, Part 11, Section 11.61 provides that you may ask the FAA to adopt, amend, repeal a regulation, or grant relief from the requirements of a current regulation.

Using a petition for rulemaking, you may ask the FAA to add a new regulation or amend or repeal a current regulation. Additionally, using a petition for exemption, you may ask the FAA to grant you relief from a current regulation. Consequently, if you are ever involved in a conversation like that again, write down your thoughts and send them to the FAA in accordance with CFR 11. You may be surprised that you can have an affect in changing FAA regulations and improve safety.

The FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) is committed to helping you achieve the highest level of safety by providing "tools" and resources to enhance your knowledge and proficiency . For more information on maintenance safety, go to http://faasafety.gov/AMT/pub/mh.aspx
Send your suggestions for improving maintenance safety to Mailto:AMT@FAAsafety.gov