Narrative:

The company I fly for has always had a seemingly failsafe set of procedures for tracking required aircraft inspection intervals. Aircraft tach times are recorded daily on a central status board, and internal responsibility for scheduling inspections at the appropriate time is assigned to a key office staff person. This system has insured that all required maintenance has been performed without fail over an 8 yr period and approximately 60000 flight hours. Although I understand that the PIC has the ultimate responsibility for insuring that required inspections have been performed prior to flight, the flawless operation of the company's internal tracking procedure caused me to become lax in checking the aircraft flight log on a daily basis for completion of required inspections. A number of unusual coincidences occurred during dec/98 which disrupted the normal aircraft inspection tracking procedure. As a result, the required annual inspection of 1 aircraft was overlooked for a period of 4 days after it was due. During that period, I inadvertently flew the aircraft beyond its annual maintenance cycle. At the very instant that the oversight was noted, on jan/xa/99, the aircraft was immediately removed from service until a scheduled annual inspection could be completed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A COMMERCIAL FIXED WING SMA ACFT WAS OPERATED 5 DAYS BEYOND THE ANNUAL INSPECTION LIMITS.

Narrative: THE COMPANY I FLY FOR HAS ALWAYS HAD A SEEMINGLY FAILSAFE SET OF PROCS FOR TRACKING REQUIRED ACFT INSPECTION INTERVALS. ACFT TACH TIMES ARE RECORDED DAILY ON A CENTRAL STATUS BOARD, AND INTERNAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR SCHEDULING INSPECTIONS AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME IS ASSIGNED TO A KEY OFFICE STAFF PERSON. THIS SYS HAS INSURED THAT ALL REQUIRED MAINT HAS BEEN PERFORMED WITHOUT FAIL OVER AN 8 YR PERIOD AND APPROX 60000 FLT HRS. ALTHOUGH I UNDERSTAND THAT THE PIC HAS THE ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSURING THAT REQUIRED INSPECTIONS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED PRIOR TO FLT, THE FLAWLESS OP OF THE COMPANY'S INTERNAL TRACKING PROC CAUSED ME TO BECOME LAX IN CHKING THE ACFT FLT LOG ON A DAILY BASIS FOR COMPLETION OF REQUIRED INSPECTIONS. A NUMBER OF UNUSUAL COINCIDENCES OCCURRED DURING DEC/98 WHICH DISRUPTED THE NORMAL ACFT INSPECTION TRACKING PROC. AS A RESULT, THE REQUIRED ANNUAL INSPECTION OF 1 ACFT WAS OVERLOOKED FOR A PERIOD OF 4 DAYS AFTER IT WAS DUE. DURING THAT PERIOD, I INADVERTENTLY FLEW THE ACFT BEYOND ITS ANNUAL MAINT CYCLE. AT THE VERY INSTANT THAT THE OVERSIGHT WAS NOTED, ON JAN/XA/99, THE ACFT WAS IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM SVC UNTIL A SCHEDULED ANNUAL INSPECTION COULD BE COMPLETED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.