Aircraft Maintenance Engineer

An Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) is a person licenced to perform maintenance on an aircraft. The Canadian equivalent to an American Aircraft Maintenance Technician, AMEs are licenced by Transport Canada to perform maintenance as per the Canadian Aviation Regulations .

Introduction

All aircraft in Canada, with the exception of certain homebuilt and ultralight planes, must carry a valid certificate of airworthiness to be legally allowed to fly. In order for this certificate to remain valid, all maintenance on the aircraft must be performed by a licenced AME. As well, a licenced AME must periodically check every plane for potential problems and sign off that the plane is airworthy. Finally, if a non-licenced person performs any work on an aircraft, an AME must check their work and again sign off that the plane is airworthy. AMEs therefore carry considerable legal responsibility for ensuring that every aircraft in the country is mechanically sound to operate.

Licensing

Most people become an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer by attending a Transport Canada certified school. In what is typically an 18 month program, they must learn everything that is required for elementary maintenance of a typical airplane. AMEs must also learn all of the sections of the Canadian Aviation Regulations which pertain to them. Finally, though an AME will learn a great deal about all aspects of aviation maintenance, each one will specialize in one discipline. For more complicated maintenance jobs, only an AME certified in that area of maintenance can sign off on the airworthiness of the aircraft.

The different categories for specialization are:

• Airframe sheet metal structures
• Composite structures
• Deicing systems
• Dope-and-fabric
• Electrical systems
• Flight controls
• Hydraulics
• Ignition systems
• Landing gear
• Reciprocating Engines
• Turbine engines
• Welding