ACS Professional Development Flashcards

The concept of 'normalization of deviance' in aviation maintenance describes:

Answer: Accepting small deviations from standards as normal over time until a serious failure occurs

Normalization of deviance occurs when repeated minor violations of standards go uncorrected and become accepted as normal, increasing risk of catastrophic failure.

Which risk assessment model used in aviation maintenance identifies likelihood and severity to prioritize hazards?

Answer: Risk matrix (likelihood × severity)

A risk matrix that evaluates both the likelihood of an event and its potential severity is the standard tool for prioritizing hazards in SMS and maintenance risk management.

Under an SMS framework, a 'just culture' policy primarily aims to:

Answer: Differentiate between honest mistakes and reckless behavior to encourage reporting

Just culture distinguishes between unintentional errors and willful violations so that honest mistakes are treated with support and coaching, encouraging open reporting of safety concerns.

A mechanic who makes a maintenance error that goes undetected and results in an accident may face all of the following EXCEPT:

Answer: Automatic loss of all future FAA employment eligibility

While mechanics can face certificate action, criminal charges, and civil liability, there is no automatic statutory bar from all FAA employment eligibility following an accident.

Ethics in aviation maintenance requires that a mechanic who is pressured by a supervisor to approve an unairworthy aircraft should:

Answer: Refuse to sign off and escalate to higher authority or the FAA if necessary

A mechanic's signature on a return-to-service constitutes a personal safety certification; no supervisor can legally override this, and escalation to the FAA is always available.

MRM (Maintenance Resource Management) training is analogous to CRM (Crew Resource Management) for pilots and focuses on:

Answer: Optimizing human performance and team communication to reduce maintenance errors

MRM applies CRM principles—communication, situational awareness, decision-making, and teamwork—to the maintenance environment to reduce human-error-caused accidents.

The 'Swiss Cheese Model' of accident causation, as applied to aviation maintenance, illustrates that accidents occur when:

Answer: Multiple layers of defenses each have gaps that align to allow a hazard to reach an outcome

James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model shows that accidents result from multiple aligned failures across defensive layers (procedures, inspections, design), not a single cause.