Managing aviation safety through inspection information technology

This article discusses aircraft airworthiness management, which can now take place for the commercial air carrier fleet as a result of the FAA certification of intact aircraft nondestructive inspection (NDI) and information technologies systems that were originally developed for the Air Force. The merit of aircraft airworthiness management has proven extremely successful for the government fleet for more than a decade. The inspection and information management technologies are particularly effective for rapid fault detection and fault assessment when hidden structural corrosion, hidden structural cracks, internal engine blade cracks, or composite disbonding occurs.