- Before
- “I find out about a problem at the audit — months after it started.” Plans 48 audits a year and briefs the Accountable Executive every month.
- Now
- Starts the day with the agents' overnight findings and six decisions; approves every program change and plan with a reason, and sees coverage of all 1,284 requirements.
One MEL overrun, from a nightly sample to a signed review
Corvane Airways is in month 7 of its FY2026–27 internal evaluation program: 48 audits in six areas, 1,284 requirements from the FAA, PHMSA, TSA, EASA and IOSA. Its maintenance-control audit is planned for February 8. On October 14 the agents find something that cannot wait that long. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.
- 01Thursday morning
What needs her, before she opens a spreadsheet
Dana Whitcombe · Compliance Monitoring ManagerDana's Today screen opens with what the agents found: 3,180 records sampled in the last 30 days from 11 evidence streams, 400 MEL deferrals read early on October 14, one that does not conform. Nine early warnings wait for an auditor, four corrective actions are overdue, and 96% of requirements are covered this cycle. Six decisions wait for her, each with the agent that prepared it.
“Waiting for you — 6 decisions · agents never act unseen.”
- 02Between audits
Early warnings, not findings
Evidence Sampling AgentIn the last 30 days the Evidence Sampling Agent raised 14 early warnings: 9 waiting for an auditor, 3 confirmed, 2 dismissed. Each names its stream, station and rule — four ORD de-icing records with no holdover start time against 14 CFR 121.629(c), two LAX NOTOCs without the UN number against 49 CFR 175.33(a), six former Halvard Air captains without the differences training sign-off. The Rule Checker re-checked every one before it reached a person.
“Nothing becomes a finding until an auditor confirms it.”
- 03Oct 14, 02:10
An MEL deferral audit of 400 records, overnight
Evidence Sampling AgentSampling plan MEL-03 drew 400 of the 2,914 MEL deferrals closed since September 1: all 212 with a repair interval extension and 188 at random. 391 conform, 6 extensions were approved within 60 minutes of expiry, 2 lack the placard photo, and 1 does not conform. N809CV, an A321neo, deferred pack 2 under MEL 21-51-02, Category C, on September 28. The interval expired October 8 at 23:59; the extension was approved at 01:52 on October 9, 1 hour 53 minutes late, and the aircraft flew 4 revenue legs with 718 passengers before the valve was replaced.
The sample size, the population and how the sample was drawn are on the screen, so the auditor can trust it.
- 0402:58
A second agent confirms the rule, with the passages
Rule CheckerThe Rule Checker works independently of the Sampling Agent. Its verdict: does not conform, confidence 0.96. It quotes the three passages it relied on — 14 CFR 121.628(a)(5), Corvane's MEL preamble §4 (Category C: ten consecutive calendar days, excluding the day of discovery) and GMM 5.4.6, which requires Maintenance Control to approve an extension before the interval expires. Each passage opens at its source.
No verdict without a cited passage; below 0.80 confidence it says “unsure” and sends the warning to an auditor.
- 0507:58 – 08:05
The root cause is a conversation, not a box
Root Cause Agent and Grace Lindqvist · QA ManagerThe Root Cause Agent asks Technical Operations three questions in the thread. Grace Lindqvist answers at 08:05: since September 1 the overnight desk has 2 controllers, not 3, after the Halvard Air desk merged, and the expiring-interval list is printed at 18:00, so the 22:40 request was not on it. The agent proposes three contributing factors and links a second warning, SIG-0401: no safety risk assessment on file for that desk merger under 14 CFR 5.51.
“system causes, never a person” — the agent never names an individual as the cause.
- 0608:12
A corrective action plan from the factors
Corrective Action AgentCAP-26-047, “Repair interval extensions approved before expiry, every time”, has four actions, each tied to a factor: a live expiring-interval board on the Maintenance Control desk, a system block on approvals after expiry, a safety risk assessment of the desk merger, and a GMM 5.4.6 briefing for every controller. The owner is Ray Delgado, Director Maintenance Control. Plan due November 13, 2026; closure due January 13, 2027.
Effectiveness check: “Re-sample every extension, Jan 14 – Mar 14, 2027; effective if 0 approved after expiry.”
- 0708:20
She confirms the finding and signs it
Dana Whitcombe · Compliance Monitoring ManagerThe Finding Drafter proposed F-26-062 at Level 2 against 14 CFR 121.628(a)(5) and GMM 5.4.6, with five pieces of evidence. Dana confirms it with reason C1, Non-compliance confirmed, and signs. With the box ticked, a hazard is also opened in the safety risk register, so quality and the SMS see the same thing. The plan clock starts.
“I, Dana Whitcombe, sign this decision. It is recorded with the time, the reason and the sources.”
- 08The audit program
Move the maintenance-control audit to November?
Program PlannerThe year's program is one circle: twelve months around the edge, six areas as lanes, every audit a node, the early warnings as dots. At the center the Program Planner proposes moving MX-04, Maintenance control and MEL, from February 8, 2027 to November 16, 2026, with four cited reasons: the N809CV overrun, six more late extensions (five on former Halvard Air aircraft), the overnight desk going from 3 controllers to 2, and the manual allowing an audit to move when risk rises.
“Theo Marchetti is free Nov 16–19. Coverage stays 1,231 of 1,284.”
- 09One decision
The plan follows risk, with her signature
Dana Whitcombe · Compliance Monitoring ManagerDana approves the move with reason R2, Risk increased, and signs. The audit lands on November 16 with Theo Marchetti as lead; Grace Lindqvist and Ray Delgado are notified, all 62 of its requirements stay covered, and the 400 sampled deferrals are attached to it. She can also ask why not December — Theo is booked on the EASA Part-145 station audit November 30 to December 4.
The Program Planner proposes and never moves, adds or drops an audit itself. Proposing to move an audit later is off: only a person can delay an audit.
- 10Month end
One page for the Accountable Executive
Malcolm Ashby · Accountable ExecutiveThe Program Planner drafts the October compliance review and Dana checks it. Six lines answer Malcolm Ashby's questions: are we compliant, what the agents found, why it happened, what we changed, the program, and what needs him — support a third overnight controller in Maintenance Control until the risk assessment is done, about 4 FTE-months. He signs the review or returns it with a comment.
“N809CV flew 4 revenue legs past its MEL repair interval on Oct 9 — found 5 days later, not at the February audit.”