Aircraft maintenance engineer (Canada)

In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) is a person who is Transport Canada

Transport Canada

Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio...

(TC) licensed to sign the maintenance release for certified aircraft

Type certificate

A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...

returning the aircraft to service.

In Canada an applicant for an AME licence must be at least 21 years of age. AMEs complete a course of training at a TC Approved Training Organization, which are mostly Canadian vocational colleges, such as British Columbia Institute of Technology

British Columbia Institute of Technology

The British Columbia Institute of Technology , is a public, coeducational, academic institution of higher education in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The polytechnic has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with the main campus in Burnaby...

and SAIT Polytechnic, and then complete a period of apprenticeship prior to writing the licencing examinations. Upon successful completion they are granted an AME licence, which is valid for six years and may be renewed.

AMEs retain their recency by completing maintenance or related work. The Canadian Aviation Regulations

Canadian Aviation Regulations

The Canadian Aviation Regulations are the rules that govern civil aviation in Canada.-Establishment:The CARs became law on October 10, 1996 replacing the former Air Regulations and Air Navigation Orders. The authority for the establishment of the CARs is the Aeronautics Act...

require that once the holder's licence is more than two years old that they complete six months worth of work in the previous two years performing or supervising aircraft maintenance, act in an executive capacity in a maintenance organization, or teach or supervise teaching of aviation maintenance at an approved training organization.

Privileges

To sign the maintenance release on a transport category fixed-wing aircraft

Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

or a turbine powered helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

an AME requires specific training. The AME is not required to actually conduct the maintenance work they sign for, and may supervise non-licenced personnel or conduct inspections of the work to be signed for to satisfy themselves that the work was completed correctly.

Not all aircraft maintenance releases require the signature of an AME in Canada. For work on Canadian aircraft conducted outside Canada a person licenced by another state that has an agreement with TC may sign. In the case of amateur-built aircraft

Homebuilt aircraft

Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...

the owner may sign and for owner-maintenance category aircraft the owner may sign if they are also a licenced pilot. In Canada ultralight aircraft

Ultralight aircraft (Canada)

The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane , and advanced ultra-light aeroplane .- Canadian definition of ultra-light :...

, hang gliders and paragliders as well as model aircraft

Model aircraft

Model aircraft are flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft using a variety of materials including plastic, diecast metal, polystyrene, balsa wood, foam and fibreglass...

do not require signatures for release to return to flight. Persons authorized by an approved maintenance organization may also sign the release, whether they hold an AME licence or not.

Ratings

The AME licence may be endorsed with one or more ratings. These are:

M1: Non-turbojet aircraft
M2: All aircraft not included in M1, excluding balloons, but including all airframes, engines, propellers, components, structures and systems of those aircraft
- Note: Holders of either an M1 or M2 rated AME licence also have maintenance release privileges for all turbine powered helicopters and SFAR 41C aeroplanes, including their associated variants and derivatives.
E: Aircraft electronic systems, including communication, pulse, navigation, auto flight, flight path computation, instruments and the electrical elements of other aircraft systems, and any structural work directly associated with the maintenance of those systems
S: Aircraft structures, including all airframe structures
Balloons

Privileges

Ratings

See also