Boeing 767 structure
Boeing 767 family structural-repair records review
This review builds and verifies the structural-repair picture for a specific Boeing 767 serial number so the airframe's repair history can be trusted. It is run for a buyer, lessor, or engineering team who needs to know that every repair on the aircraft has approved data behind it and appears on the repair map. It covers damage reports, repair records, Structural Repair Manual and beyond-SRM references, and the approval basis for each repair. You receive a reconciled repair map, an exception list where a repair lacks evidence, and a closure plan for the open items.
When this review is needed
- A 767 is entering diligence and the buyer needs the repair map to reflect every documented repair on the airframe.
- A heavy check found a repair with no supporting record and the origin has to be established.
- The aircraft is being re-leased and the incoming operator requires a substantiated structural history.
- A repair sits beyond SRM limits and the approval and any damage-tolerance basis must be confirmed.
The problem
Structural repairs accumulate on a 767 across a long life, and the paper behind them ages faster than the metal. A repair embodied under a prior operator may sit on the aircraft with only a work-order line, no damage report, and no clear reference to the data that authorized it. When a repair falls outside SRM coverage, the records team has to prove an engineering approval existed, and that trail often runs through a shop or operator that no longer holds the file.
What gets reviewed
- A repair map assembled or reconciled for the airframe and its major structural zones
- Damage reports matched to the repairs they authorized
- SRM references confirmed against the applicable manual revision for each repair
- Beyond-SRM repairs traced to their engineering approval and damage-tolerance basis
- Repair interaction and adjacency checked where multiple repairs share a zone
- Freighter-conversion structural changes reconciled with the repair history
Scope this review
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What gets validated
- Every repair on the map traces to a damage report or an equivalent origin record
- SRM-coverage repairs cite the manual chapter and revision current at the time of embodiment
- Beyond-SRM repairs carry an engineering approval and, where required, a damage-tolerance evaluation
- Repair locations are consistent between the map, the records, and any inspection findings
- Recurring inspection requirements arising from a repair are captured in the maintenance program
Evidence normally required
- Any existing structural repair map or dent-and-buckle chart for the serial
- Damage reports, repair records, and work orders covering structural work
- Engineering approvals and damage-tolerance evaluations for beyond-SRM repairs
- The applicable Structural Repair Manual revisions for the repair dates
- Freighter-conversion structural records where the airframe has been converted
Common discrepancies
- Repairs visible on the airframe or in work orders that do not appear on the repair map
- Beyond-SRM repairs with no engineering approval or damage-tolerance basis in the file
- Repairs cited against an SRM revision that postdates the embodiment date
- Recurring inspections tied to a repair that were never carried into the program
What is at stake
A repair without a documented basis is a liability the current owner carries into the next transaction and the next heavy check. It can force a re-substantiation under deadline, an inspection to characterize the repair, or in the worst case a removal and re-repair to a known standard. The uncertainty also prices into the asset, because a buyer discounts a structural history it cannot verify.
Move from findings to resolution
Move from findings to a documented resolution path.
How the work runs
Assemble the repair inventory
Collect every documented repair for the serial from maps, damage reports, and work orders.
Locate and source each repair
Fix each repair on the airframe and match it to its origin and authorizing data.
Test the beyond-SRM cases
Confirm engineering approval and damage-tolerance basis for repairs outside SRM coverage.
Deliver the map and exceptions
Provide the reconciled repair map, exception list, and a closure plan for the gaps.
What the buyer receives
- A reconciled structural repair map for the serial with each repair located and sourced
- An exception list identifying repairs that lack a documented basis
- A closure plan sequencing re-substantiation, inspection, or escalation for each open item
Who uses the output
- Structures engineers confirming the airframe's repair history before a check or trade
- Asset managers pricing the aircraft against a verified structural record
- Records teams carrying recurring repair inspections into the maintenance program
How the work fits into the transaction or program
The repair map sits between the airframe's damage history and its continuing maintenance program. Once repairs are located and sourced, the recurring inspections they generate can be checked against the program, and the buyer can weigh the structural history rather than discount an unknown. This review usually runs alongside the AD and configuration checks, since a repair can be tied to an AD or embodied during a conversion.
Aircraft-specific considerations
Aging 767 airframes carry the structural signature of long service: fatigue-driven repairs around doors and window belts, corrosion repairs in the lower fuselage, and reinforcement tied to freighter conversion. A converted airframe adds main-deck cutout and floor-beam work that interacts with prior repairs, so the map is scoped to this serial's conversion state and inspection history rather than a family baseline.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
A repair approved under one authority may need a recognized basis before the receiving authority accepts it. The review records the approval path for each beyond-SRM repair so an FAA or EASA records team can trace the authorization without reopening the engineering.
Regulatory limits
This review characterizes and sources the repair history from the records. It does not perform structural inspection, does not approve or re-approve any repair, and does not make an airworthiness determination on the airframe.
What this review does not cover
- Physical inspection or nondestructive testing of any repair
- Preparation or approval of new repair or damage-tolerance data
- Disposition of a repair found to be non-conforming
Specific to this review
- A beyond-SRM repair without its engineering approval is the highest-cost gap on a 767, because re-substantiation under deadline is slow and may require inspection.
- Repairs that share a structural zone can interact, so adjacency has to be checked even when each repair is individually documented.
- A repair cited against a later SRM revision than the embodiment date is a trace break, since the authorizing data may differ from what was actually used.
- Freighter-conversion reinforcement frequently overlaps earlier fatigue repairs, and the map has to show which change governs each location.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Maintenance recordkeeping content and approval-for-return-to-service requirements, including 43.9, 43.11, and Appendix B.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Records an owner or operator must keep, including total time in service, current status of life-limited parts, and AD compliance.
European Union / EASA. Continuing airworthiness, maintenance records, CAMO responsibilities, and the airworthiness review process in the EASA system.
Frequently asked questions
What if a repair is on the aircraft but nowhere in the records?
It is logged as an exception with its location fixed on the map. The closure plan then decides whether the origin can be reconstructed from work orders, whether an inspection is needed to characterize it, or whether the repair has to be re-substantiated to a known standard.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
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