CUSTOMER SERVICES DIRECTORATE AIRBUS

1 ROND POINT MAURICE BELLONTE

31707 BLAGNAC CEDEX FRANCE
TELEPHONE + 33 (0)5 61 93 33 33
TELEX AIRBU 530526F SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

SUBJECT: CUSTOMER SERVICES: COMMUNICATION and CONSULTATION

MEANS FOR TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES

ATA CHAPTER: 00

AIRCRAFT TYPE: ALL AIRBUS AIRCRAFT

APPLICABILITY: ALL AIRBUS AIRCRAFT

1. REASON
This Service Information Letter provides information about the communication means (with a
standard format) frequently used by Airbus Customer Services in addition to the standard ATA
documentation:
- to request urgent technical actions or application of specific operational procedures
necessary to maintain safe aircraft operation,
- to inform Airbus Operators about significant technical and/or operational events as well as to
re-emphasize compliance with technical and/or operational procedures,
- to provide reference for deviations from technical and or operational standards.

It also provides information on the main digital means developed by Airbus to allow Operators an
interactive consultation of several types of data needed to support the aircraft operation.

2. WHAT IS DESCRIBED IN THIS SIL

A) Communication Means
The following means are used:
1) MAINTENANCE and ENGINEERING topics
a) Action to be performed on the aircraft
- Service Bulletin - SB
- Alert Service Bulletin - ASB
- All Operator Telex - AOT
b) Information at fleet level
- Service Information Letter - SIL
- Technical Follow-Up - TFU
- Operator Information Telex - OIT
- Accident Information Telex - AIT
c) Other issues
- No Technical Objection - NTO
- Technical Adaptation - TA
- Repair Design Approval Sheet - RAS
2) FLIGHT OPERATIONS topics
- Flight Operations Telex - FOT
- Operations Engineering Bulletin - OEB
- Flight Crew Operating Manual Bulletin - FCOM Bulletin

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 1 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

Communication between Airbus and the Operators is performed using different channels such as
telex, fax, SITA, electronic mail/network, or paper mail.

B) Consultation Tools
- AirN@v / Engineering
- Airbus|World

Consultation is performed using digital means (DVD, On-line access).

3. MAINTENANCE and ENGINEERING topics

3.a) COMMUNICATION RELATED TO AN ACTION TO BE PERFORMED ON AN AIRCRAFT

The SB (Service Bulletin)

The Service Bulletin is the document issued to notify the airline of modifications, substitution of
parts, special inspections/checks, reduction of existing life limits or establishment of first time life
limits and conversion from one engine model to another, applicable on in-service aircraft.

Service Bulletin layout and content are subject to rules issued by Air Transport Association of
America in the iSpec 2200 for the purpose of standardizing aircraft and equipment manufacturers'
publications.

There are two basic types of Service Bulletin:

- Inspection Service Bulletin
- Modification Service Bulletin.
this second type of Service Bulletin covering modification of parts manufactured by Airbus and,
if necessary, Vendor Service Bulletin (for details on coverage criteria refer to SIL 00-025).

The Service Bulletin is a document approved under the authority of the EASA Design
Organization Approval (Certificate EASA.21J.031).

The Service Bulletin is sent to the Technical Documentation shipping address.

When it is necessary to have rapid reactions on the Operators side, the SB may be provided
through adapted means either 'Alert SB' or 'AOT' of which specific features are described below.

The ASB (Alert Service Bulletin)

The ASB is a specific format of Service Bulletin issued because its content requires the urgent
attention of the Operator. The action described in the ASB has usually to be performed within a
number of weeks or months after the issue date.
The content of an ASB may later be rendered mandatory by the Airworthiness Authorities
through a CN (Consigne de Navigabilité) or an AD (Airworthiness Directive), but even if this is
not the case, the ASB is considered by Airbus as a Mandatory action.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 2 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

The ASB is identified by the introduction of the 'A' letter in the SB reference in place of the '-'
located between the ATA Chapter and the sequence number. To help Operators recognize
immediately the urgent nature of the document, hard copies of the ASB will be printed on light
blue color paper with the word 'ALERT' in the heading.
The Alert Service Bulletin is a document approved under the authority of the EASA Design
Organization Approval (Certificate EASA.21J.031).

The Alert Service Bulletin is sent to the Technical Documentation shipping address.

The AOT (All Operator Telex)

The AOT is a telegraphic form of the Alert Service Bulletin used to launch a VERY URGENT
ACTION that is required to be taken by the Operators concerned. This action is due to an event
or finding which affects the airworthiness of the involved Airbus aircraft or which represents a
serious operational impact for the Operator. The action is to be performed within a few days or a
few weeks from receipt of the AOT. For such cases, the AOT is the fastest possible means of
communication.

The AOT is a document approved under the authority of the EASA Design Organization
Approval (Certificate EASA.21J.031).

The content of an AOT may be rendered mandatory (immediately or subsequently) by the

Airworthiness Authorities through a CN (Consigne de Navigabilité) or an AD (Airworthiness
Directive) but, even if the Airworthiness Authorities do not mandate it, the AOT is considered by
Airbus as a Mandatory action.

The AOT is sent to the Engineering/Maintenance department of the Operators concerned (i.e. all
operators having the same type of aircraft or having the same type of engine in case of an AOT
linked to the power plant).

Whenever the AOT issue may have a repercussion on flight operations, the Flight Operations
department of the operator is addressed by means of a Flight Operations Telex (FOT).

3.b) COMMUNICATION RELATED TO FLEET INFORMATION

The SIL (Service Information Letter)

The SIL is used to provide technical information of a non-urgent character:

- information related to product improvement, maintenance and/or operational practices
- information on general issues or policies (e.g. SB Kit prices, French CNs,..).
- highlight of an information already (or scheduled to be) incorporated in the Technical
Documentation

The SIL is not airworthiness approved.

The SIL is distributed to all operators in the frame of the standard Technical Publication
distribution.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 3 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

The TFU (Technical Follow-Up)

The TFU is used to provide on a regular basis all Operators with comprehensive information on
technical issues and status of development/availability of product improvements.

The TFU is not airworthiness approved.

The TFU is not part of the contractual Maintenance or Operational Technical Documentation.

The TFU cannot be considered as a “maintenance data” when working under EASA Part 145
rules.

A separate TFU is allocated to identified technical issues. It results from in-service (or flight test)
monitoring and covers the following areas:
- maintaining the safe operation,
- curing malfunctions reported several times,
- solving maintainability difficulties.

The TFU set and its monthly updates are distributed to the Engineering/Maintenance department
of the Operators.

The TFU is an engineering oriented synthesis document containing the following information:
- a brief description of the issue and its consequences
- the investigation performed
- the interim solution (in case one can be proposed)
- advice for Maintenance and Flight Operations personnel
- the repercussion of the event on the aircraft dispatch
- the permanent or final solution which is developed
- the references of administrative data or documentation such as modification number and
embodiment point in production (when known), the references, issue number and issue
dates of Service Bulletin/Inspection Service Bulletin and Vendor Service Bulletin, as
well as other related documents such as AOT, OIT, SIL, FOT, OEB, FCOM, …
- other information like airlines affected, Part Number and Vendor name, Airbus contact
point for further information

The status of a TFU is one of the 4 followings:

-TFU “Open”
this covers the period during which the engineering solution is developed and
made available

-TFU “Closed/Solution available”

the Service Bulletin and the kit are available; the Operator may decide on the
need for retrofit following his analysis results.

-TFU “Closed/Solution embodied”

the complete fleet has been retrofitted, as a result of a monitored retrofit
campaign

TFU “Closed/No Further Action”

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 4 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

The event is recorded in the TFU system as an in-service issue, but during its
analysis, it is found that the event can be addressed through existing standard
practices or any specific recommendation and thus does not require a further
specific engineering action in the present conditions. It might be reopened if
conditions change.
To help Operators in a quick analysis of TFU impact on various aspects of their daily operation,
several dedicated fields show immediately if the issue:
- has an impact on Flight Operations, on Line/Hangar Maintenance, on Shop Maintenance,
- is visible by the passengers,
- may be categorized as an airworthiness concern or as a commercial issue.

The OIT (Operator Information Telex)

When it is necessary to communicate quickly to the Operators a piece of information that does
not requires to formulate a specific action, the OIT is issued:
- to inform on a significant in-service event requiring a particular attention by:
• increasing his general level of awareness and vigilance
• putting across, where possible, specific messages such as reminders on existing
procedures or notifications of issuance of important maintenance documents (e.g. an
Alert SB, an Inspection SB, a Temporary Revision of a Manual) further to their link
with the aircraft airworthiness
- to provide general information about maintenance operations where Airbus has identified
a requirement to quickly notify the Operators.

The OIT is not airworthiness approved.

The OIT is distributed to the Engineering/Maintenance department of the Operators concerned.

In case an event leads to the issuance of both an OIT and an FOT on the same event, it is likely
that they are sent as a single document called OIT/FOT. The addressees are both the
Engineering/Maintenance department and the Flight Operations department of the Operator.

The AIT (Accident Information Telex)

In the event of an accident resulting in severe damage or total loss of the aircraft, an AIT will be
issued to communicate known facts related to the accident.

As aircraft accident investigations are subject to ICAO 13 regulations and conducted by the
relevant governmental authorities, the AIT issuance is coordinated with the investigating
authorities.

The AIT is sent to:

• the Operators Maintenance Departments
• the Operators VP Operations
• the Operators Safety Officers
• the President/CEO of Airbus Customers (including those at pre-contractual stages),
of all Airbus customers and Operators, independent of the aircraft type involved.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 5 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

3.c) COMMUNICATION ON OTHER ISSUES

The NTO (No Technical Objection)
The NTO is used to respond to an Operator requesting to dispatch an aircraft outside the specified
operational limits or with a minor aircraft configuration change. The NTO specifies the
conditions/limits under which the aircraft might be operated, based on the content of the request.
The determination of the technical acceptability of the Operator’s request is conducted by the
relevant approved Airbus Design Office (whose primary function is to provide the aircraft design
data) following established engineering procedures and the response to the request is provided in
accordance with these procedures.
The NTO is issued in exceptional cases only and has temporary validity.

The NTO is not airworthiness approved. It is to the Operator to determine if the application of
the provisions and limitations contained in this document requires an approval by the
Airworthiness Authority of the country of registration or of operation of the aircraft and, if so, it
is the Operator responsibility to obtain that approval.

The NTO is distributed to the requester. The NTO forms normally part of an Operator document
specifying the context of the NTO.

NTO’s are not covered by the AIRBUS contractual documentation.

NOTE: 1) The NTO is not used for structural repair issues for which a specific form, the RAS
(Repair Approval Sheet), exists.

2) It is possible that, due to situation described in paragraph 3 below, some Operators

prefer to use the document without ‘No technical Objection’ shown on the document heading. In
that case, on Operator request, Airbus may issue the document with ‘Statement of Technical
Concurrence’ as heading. Above paragraphs describing the NTO apply fully to the document
with such heading.

3) Even though the name is the same, take note that the NTO document issued by Airbus
Customer Services to substantiate a temporary deviation to an aircraft configuration has not the
same function as the “ No technical Objection” described in airworthiness regulations where the
“No Technical Objection” is an element of the dossier submitted to Airworthiness Authority with a
view to obtaining a STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) , i.e. a permanent configuration change

The TA (Technical Adaptation)

The TA is used when an Operator requires an airworthiness approved technical agreement for an
aircraft in a configuration or with maintenance procedures, that are different from the applicable
ones. The Flight Operations procedures are not included in the present field of use of the TA (a
possible extension of the TA scope in that view is under investigation).

The TA can cover:

- System repairs
- System allowable damage,
- Play, gaps, tolerances
- Missing part, system de-activation, system configuration adaptation
- Installation of alternative PN (under conditions)
SIL NUMBER: 00-052
PAGE: 6 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

- Adaptation occurring during SB embodiment

- Embodiment of approved modification before SB issue.
- Extension of a threshold, interval, grace period
- Alternative sequence of actions in an existing maintenance procedure
- Alternative tools, consumable material
- New maintenance procedure
- Aircraft release after abnormal operation

The TA cannot cover

- Adaptation to MMEL (Master Minimum Equipment List) , CMP (Configuration
Maintenance and Procedure Document),
- Adaptation to MRBR (Maintenance Review Board Report)
- Any extension of the limitations defined in FM (Flight Manual) , CMR (Certification
Maintenance Requirements, ALI/ALS (Airworthiness Limited Items / Airworthiness
Limitation Section), Safe life items.
- Any extension of the limitations defined in a AD (Airworthiness Directive)
- Any structural repair or allowable damage
- Any customer design change or STC (Supplemental Type Certificate); optional design
changes are to be covered by the RFC/RMO (Request for Change/Retrofit Modification
Offer) process.
- Any Airbus modification, which is not approved by the Airbus Configuration
Management Rules (ACMR).

The TA is an airworthiness approved document issued under the authority of the EASA Design
Organization Approval (Certificate 21J.031).

Airbus has no commitment or obligation to include the TA content in the contractual technical
documentation..

The issuance of TA documents has started on September 4th, 2006.

The RAS (Repair Design Approval Sheet)

The RAS is used to provide the approval of a structural repair scheme and is part of repair design
documentation provided to repair aircraft structural damage (according to the needs, the repair
drawing layout is under the form of a ‘Repair Drawing’, or ‘Repair Sketch’ or ‘Technical
Disposition’, possibly completed by ‘Repair Instructions’).
The RAS is a document approved under the authority of the EASA Design Organization
Approval (Certificate 21J.031).
Justification of repair needs mainly static and fatigue evaluation. Fatigue justification may require
extensive work and may not be available at time of the aircraft return to service. In that case a
preliminary approval is provided based on static justification. Then the final approval, which
includes fatigue justification, is provided within 6 months. It may include inspection requirements
depending on the conducted fatigue and damage tolerance calculations.

The RAS is distributed to the requester.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 7 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

4. FLIGHT OPERATIONS topics

The FOT (Flight Operations Telex)

The FOT is used to provide urgent information or temporary flight crew procedures or temporary
limitations that must be taken into account by the Operator for the safe conduct of flight. As such
it will:
• announce a significant operational change (A change is significant if its non-application
could impact the aircraft safe operation.), or
• recall an existing operational procedure, when it has been determined that this procedure
was not properly applied and that this improper execution could impact the aircraft safe
operation

In case of significant operational change, the FOT will be supplemented, as appropriate, by an

OEB and/or a temporary revision to the FCOM and/or a temporary revision to the Flight Manual
and/or a temporary revision to the Master Minimum Equipment List.; the FOT will indicate the
documents that it precedes.

The FOT is not airworthiness approved.

The FOT is distributed to the Flight Operations department of the concerned Operators.

In case an event leads to the issuance of both an FOT and an OIT, it is likely that they are sent as
a single document called OIT/FOT. The addressees are both the Engineering/Maintenance
department and the Flight Operations department of the Operator.

The OEB (Operations Engineering Bulletin)

The OEB is used to advise Operators of revised or new significant technical information, flight
crew procedures or limitations required to conduct safe flight operation.

OEB’s are classified into one of two categories, RED or WHITE:

• an OEB is classified RED if non-adherence to the recommended procedures would have a
significant impact on safe aircraft operations. Operators are requested to enforce a RED
OEB without delay to all flight crew.
• an OEB is classified WHITE in all other cases.

In addition, for A318, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340 aircraft, if a RED OEB or WHITE OEB
has an impact on an ECAM procedure, a code is published to permit the Operator to activate the
‘OEB Reminder’ function (if installed) on the ECAM.

A Temporary Revision of the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) is published for all RED OEB's
and for WHITE OEB's associated with an OEB reminder.

An OEB may be associated with an approved Flight Manual Temporary Revision.

The OEB is not airworthiness approved. It is issued on a temporary basis and will be cancelled by
the application of a modification/Service Bulletin.
SIL NUMBER: 00-052
PAGE: 8 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

The OEB is sent to each identified holder of a FCOM (Flight Crew Operating Manual). It is
incorporated into the relevant section of the FCOM. It is accompanied by filing instructions and
an updated, customized list of effective OEBs as well as an OEB STATUS page that is updated at
each normal revision.

The FCOM (Flight Crew Operating Manual) Bulletin

The FCOM Bulletin is used to provide supplementary operational information that fall outside of
the defined content of the FCOM.

The FCOM Bulletin is not airworthiness approved.

The FCOM Bulletin - printed on blue paper - is sent to each identified holder of a FCOM and
may deal with one or more topic(s) such as standard operating procedures, supplementary system
descriptions, performance regulations, etc.

5. CONSULTATION TOOLS

The following tools allow to retrieve many of the data detailed in the previous paragraphs.

AirN@v / Engineering (all aircraft fleet including A380)

Covering all Airbus programs including A300 B2/B4, AirN@v / Engineering is an electronic
index used for easy identification of the references and links between the following Airbus and
Vendor small engineering documents:
- AD Airworthiness Directive
- AOT All Operator Telex
- CN ‘Consigne de Navigabilité’
- FOT Flight Operations Telex
- MOD Modification
- MP Modification Proposal
- OIT Operator Information Telex
- SIL Service Information Letter
- TFU Technical Follow-Up
- VSB Vendor Service Bulletin
- Standard SB Service Bulletin (*)
- Summary for all other SB (*)

(*) The offline solution on DVD provides the standard service bulletin content and summary of
non-standard service bulletins, released in the last 6 months (in HTML and PDF).

AirN@v / Engineering also provides an easy access to the contents of AOT, FOT, OIT, SB, SIL,
and TFU.

AirN@v / Engineering is not airworthiness approved.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 9 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006
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SERVICE INFORMATION LETTER

AirN@v / Engineering is distributed to all Operators in the frame of the contractual Technical
Publication distribution.

For each Operator, AirN@v / Engineering is provided with a single access code covering one
and/or several Airbus aircraft type(s) in the Operator’s fleet, as applicable.

For more information on this tool, refer to SIL 00-075.

Airbus|World
Airbus|World (the Airbus portal for the customers) is a single access point for on-line maintenance,
engineering, flight operation and general data through standard PC equipment.

Regarding the Technical Data section, the following service is available for consultation:

ETD (Engineering Technical Documentation) service:

For documents below:
Service Bulletins (SB),
Technical Follow-Up (TFU),
Modification Information Document (MID),
Operator Information Telex (OIT),
Service Information Letter (SIL),
All Operators Telex (AOT),
Flight Operation Telex (FOT),
Consignes de Navigabilité (CN) and Airworthiness Directives (AD)
the following functions are offered:
- search by document
- existing links between documents,
- download of index data in Excel format
- download of SB in .pdf or, for SB’s issued after July 1997, SGML (with graphic in TIFF)
- print based on .pdf format
In addition a "forum" function has been added in the TFU area of ETD. It allows users to raise
comments and exchange information on the TFU’s contained in the database. In some cases Airbus
may react to comments that the users have raised in the forum.

Airbus|World can be accessed through secured network connections based on TCP/IP protocol.
Airbus supports the following networks:. ISDN/PSTN, Internet, SITA AeroNet, leased lines.
To ensure secure access, certification is implemented according to standard X 509. Two
authentication methods are supported today, either by certificate or by login/password system.

More information on the Airbus|World contents as well as details for connection process and
conditions for subscription are available by contacting your Customer Support Manager via normal
contact channel or consultation of the Customer Services Catalog which can be obtained from the
Business department of Airbus Customer Services.

SIL NUMBER: 00-052

PAGE: 10 of 10
DATE: JAN 09/1996
REVISION: 6 – Dec 21, 2006