Falcon 7X
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Procedure
Upon review of logbook entries from a large inspection; it was discovered that a smaller inspection; which should have been performed at the same time; wasn't accomplished. The aircraft was released for service; dispatched; and flew a trip before the error was discovered.There are several factors that led to the error. We don't have a dedicated technician; so as chief pilot I'm tasked with maintenance planning and control; despite a lack of maintenance experience and knowledge. This will be addressed by using our contract technician more in the future to review maintenance and documentation before departing from a maintenance center. We put blind faith in the service center; having a false sense of security from them being a manufacturer service center.The maintenance manual had been revised in December 2014 to change the frequency of the basic inspection; from 2 months to 300 hours; with the caveat that the basic be done at the A inspection if 300 flight hours hadn't been reached between two A-inspections. The service center clearly missed the caveat. However; I knew that the basic had to be done; and as stated above; had blind faith that the basic would be done. This should've been confirmed with the service center; and will be in the future. Finally; in the future; I will be more familiar with the maintenance requirements going in; and review the sign-offs before departing maintenance. The basic inspection will be performed by our contract technician before our next trip.From the Aircraft Maintenance Manual:The FALCON 7X maintenance cycle is based on four types of inspections:Basic inspection: every 300 flight hours;A inspection: every 600 flight hours or 9 months; whichever is reached first;The A inspection must be supplemented by the Basic inspection if 300 flight hours haven't been reached between two A-inspections.The Basic inspection is a very simple inspection that includes mainly a walk around inspection; reading of the maintenance messages; and operational checks.
On a Dassault Falcon 7X the basic inspection procedures were not being followed per the aircraft maintenance manual.