Service Bulletins Clarified

As you may recall, the NTSB recently issued an opinion that a manufacturer could mandate compliance with service bulletins by incorporating them by general reference into its maintenance manuals. This opinion was contrary to the FAA’s longstanding position that compliance with service bulletins was not mandatory unless incorporated into an airworthiness directive or otherwise required by regulation. In response to the NTSB opinion and a private request, the FAA recently issued a Legal Interpretation addressing this issue. For an analysis and discussion of this Legal Interpretation, please read my new article on the subject here.