Hangar Fairies can fix the simple menial tasks like worn & loose hardware, etc. The hardest part is for said fairy to actually get the motivation to actually do the work and then do it by the book. Lots of A&P’s act tough and cry out about liability but truly they’re only responsible until the logbook entry’s wet signature dries up.
Ha. Funny thing about hangar fairies, they have a tendency to mess with the same things or in the same areas after said ink dries. So when further scrutiny does happen, usually months/year later, the 1st person called is person who signed in ink instead of the fairy. Without any fairy signature the liability falls directly back to that last applicable signature as Part 43 is a performance standard which regulates how a job is performed. And while an IA annual signature is only valid for the aircraft's condition prior to the date he signs at, he’s still held accountable/liable for how he performed the annual beyond that date or until that work is repeated. So in most cases, the liability for work performed under Part 43 does not expire once the ink dries. It is what it is.
I’d curious it read/hear stories of epic fairy work. Anyone have any anecdotes to tell?
One of my favorite fairy tales…. Once upon a time, there was an owner fairy who paid to have a 100hr performed on his aircraft (N12345) to get an idea what was wrong before he listed it for sale. The aircraft was a bit rough but airworthy and the inspection generated a list of about a dozen items that should to be addressed. One of the items listed was all the plugs were eroded to limits.
Fast forward 4 months and that APIA who performed the 100hr receives a call from an out of state FSDO inquiring how he missed the loose plugs on N12345 during his 100hr as his signature was the last one in the book. After several hours of banter and an exchange of the 100hr discrepancy list, it was determined the plugs were not the ones he inspected as the current ones were all new.
From there, that FSDO called the APIA’s FSDO who with the help of the APIA tracked down the purchase invoice for those new plugs installed on N12345. When the fairy was confronted with the evidence, he hemmed and hawed at first trying the classic, I’m a "hobbyist" owner/fairy and don’t know about all the FARs or how to find them route.
Well, long story short, once the FSDO Wizard explained that any fairy performing work on a TC’d aircraft without a signature not only violated Part 43, but also set up the owner to be held on a violation of Part 91 Subpart E and operating an aircraft with an invalid AWC, the owner/fairy copped a plea. He was counseled on his actions and given a “letter in his file.”
Unfortunately, while the APIA was out 8hrs of billable time, the fairy didn’t live happily forever as after this episode he had to fly out of state to find someone who would work on/annual his “new” aircraft. Last I heard the fairy’s wife forced him out of aviation due to the excessive mx costs. Karma over a little hangar fairy dust on simple set of plugs.
The End.
