- Job Definition
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Inspect aircraft, maintenance procedures, air navigational aids, air traffic controls, and communications equipment to ensure conformance with Federal safety regulations.
- Job Zone
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Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some may require a bachelor's degree.
- Interests
- Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
- Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
- Knowledge
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Skills
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Tasks
- Issue pilots' licenses to individuals meeting standards.
- Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes.
- Observe flight activities of pilots to assess flying skills and to ensure conformance to flight and safety regulations.
- Conduct flight test programs to test equipment, instruments, and systems under a variety of conditions, using both manual and automatic controls.
- Approve or deny issuance of certificates of airworthiness.
- Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment.
- Schedule and coordinate in-flight testing programs with ground crews and air traffic control to ensure availability of ground tracking, equipment monitoring, and related services.
- Recommend changes in rules, policies, standards, and regulations, based on knowledge of operating conditions, aircraft improvements, and other factors.
- Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports.
- Inspect work of aircraft mechanics performing maintenance, modification, or repair and overhaul of aircraft and aircraft mechanical systems, in order to ensure adherence to standards and procedures.
- Start aircraft, and observe gauges, meters, and other instruments to detect evidence of malfunctions.
- Examine aircraft access plates and doors for security.
- Examine landing gear, tires, and exteriors of fuselage, wings, and engines for evidence of damage or corrosion, and to determine whether repairs are needed.
- Inspect new, repaired, or modified aircraft to identify damage or defects, and to assess airworthiness and conformance to standards, using checklists, hand tools, and test instruments.
- Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.
- Wages
Data not available
- Outlook
During 2006, there were approximately 2,000 people employed in this field in California. It is projected that there will be 2,300 employed in 2016. This occupation will have about 30 openings due to growth and about 70 replacement openings for approximately 100 total annual openings. This occupation .
- Colleges and Training
- Below are college programs that are generally associated with this occupation. To view colleges that offer these programs, click on the titles below.
- Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician - A program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to repair, service, and maintain all types of aircraft operating, control, and electronic systems. Includes instruction in flight instrumentation, aircraft communications and homing systems, radar and other sensory systems, navigation aids, and specialized systems for various types of civilian and military aircraft.
- Similar Occupations
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- Nuclear Equipment Operation Technicians - Operate equipment used for the release, control, and utilization of nuclear energy to assist scientists in laboratory and production activities.
- Construction and Building Inspectors - Inspect structures using engineering skills to determine structural soundness and compliance with specifications, building codes, and other regulations. Inspections may be general in nature or may be limited to a specific area, such as electrical systems or plumbing.
- Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining - Operate equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling wells. May also perform similar services in mining exploration operations.
- Welders, Cutters, and Welder Fitters - Use hand-welding or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers - Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment.
- Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation - Inspect and monitor transportation equipment, vehicles or systems to ensure compliance with regulations and safety standards.
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- Job Openings
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