Aviation

SMS Compliance Date for FAA/EASA Repair Stations

The FAA recently published Information For Operators (InFO) 24007, clarifying the Safety Management System (SMS) compliance date. Existing US Repair Stations with an EASA certificate must implement a SMS by December 31, 2025. Maintenance Annex Guidance (MAG) Change 10, which includes the SMS requirement, must be implemented by October 10, 2025. Therefore, EASA manual supplements […]

Cylinder Overpack Letter of Interpretation 24-0042

Problem On June 4th, 2024 Tym’s LLC formally requested clarification for a Letter of Interpretation (LoI) issued by the US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regarding the use of Overpack for compressed gas cylinders. On January 3, 2025 the agency issued a revised Letter of Interpretation, based on our concerns. […]

DOT PHMSA Interpretations Now Open for Comment

Problem On June 4th, 2024 Tym’s LLC formally requested clarification for a Letter of Interpretation (LoI) issued by the US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (DOT PHMSA) regarding the use of Overpack for compressed gas cylinders. A generous portion of our website outlines this engagement here. The back-and-forth on this topic […]

Overpack Letter of Interpretation Update

After 10 months of back-and-forth with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regarding Letter of Interpretation No. 24-0010, we finally have some conclusions regarding the use of Overpack for aviation compressed gas cylinders. Tym’s Request Resulted in Revised Letter of Interpretation On January 3, 2025, the agency issued […]

EASA Safety Management System (SMS) Update

We receive regular requests regarding Safety Management System (SMS) implementation from
domestic FAA repair stations with EASA approval granted via the EU/US bilateral agreement.
We suspect that this will continue, and greatly increase, based on the upcoming deadline to
implement SMS for US repair stations on December 31, 2025 (as published in FAA Information
for Operators (InFO) 24007).

Trouble Brewing with US Bilateral Agreements? – Drug Testing for Foreign Repair Stations

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) final rule published on December 18, 2024
titled ”Drug and Alcohol Testing of Certificated Repair Station Employees Located Outside of the
United States,” the FAA announced a formal requirement that international regulatory authorities
and repair stations have been dreading for years.

Increased Fines for Violation of Hazardous Materials Transportation Laws

A Final Rule posted to the Federal Register on 12/30/2024 increased the fines for DOT and FAA violations, including Hazardous Materials transportation laws, again in 2025. The long list of legal citations and penalties can be found here. Remember that findings during FAA and DOT audits can result in a multitude of violations andsome penalties […]