Communication
Within and between teams, work logging and recording, keeping up to date, dissemination of information, electronic communication.
Communication, summary notes
- Communication failures, within a shift, between shifts, and between maintenance and flight crew, are one of the most common contributing factors in maintenance-related occurrences.
- Shift handover must be explicit and in writing (not just verbal), covering incomplete work, deferred defects and any non-standard configuration left on the aircraft.
- Accurate work logging and sign-off create the paper trail that lets the next person (or an investigator) reconstruct exactly what was done, an incomplete log is a communication failure even if the work itself was correct.
- Keeping current with revised procedures, airworthiness directives and manual amendments is a communication responsibility of both the organisation (distributing updates) and the individual (reading them).
- Electronic communication (email, electronic work packages) can lose the back-and-forth clarification a face-to-face handover provides, ambiguous electronic instructions should be verbally confirmed for safety-critical tasks.
- ⚠ Exam trap: an unrecorded verbal handover is a communication failure even when the work itself was done correctly, the technical log is what carries the information across the shift boundary.
A defect is verbally mentioned to the incoming shift lead but never entered in the technical log. The next shift does not action it. What failed?
Communication relied on an unrecorded verbal handover instead of the formal documented system, the technical log exists precisely so information survives a shift change even if a conversation is forgotten or misheard.
Communication concept map
Communication
Communication quiz
Communication, quiz
1. A defect mentioned verbally at shift handover but never entered in the technical log is a failure of:
Formal, documented communicationTechnical competenceTooling2. Shift handover for incomplete or deferred work should be:
Explicit and in writing, not only verbalLeft to informal conversationUnnecessary if the next shift is experienced3. Keeping current with revised procedures and airworthiness directives is a responsibility of:
Both the organisation and the individual technicianOnly the organisation's quality departmentOnly the individual technician4. Ambiguous instructions received by email for a safety-critical task should be:
Verbally confirmed before actingActioned exactly as written even if unclearIgnored until the next scheduled meeting5. An incomplete maintenance log entry, even when the work itself was performed correctly, is considered:
A communication failureAcceptable, since the task was done correctlyIrrelevant to airworthiness6. The highest-risk moment for lost information in maintenance is typically:
Shift or task handoverThe middle of a taskThe morning briefing7. Communication of a partly disassembled or non-standard aircraft configuration must be:
Recorded and clearly flagged to the next shiftLeft for the next shift to discoverOnly mentioned if asked8. Compared with a written record, a purely verbal instruction is:
More easily forgotten or misheardAlways clearerLegally sufficient on its own