Dash 8 task cards
De Havilland Dash 8 task-card evidence records review
This review checks the closed task cards behind a De Havilland Dash 8's completed maintenance and confirms each one carries the sign-offs, inspection stamps, and referenced instructions that make it evidence. It reads the routine card set against the maintenance instructions each card cites, verifying that the work was recorded as accomplished and independently inspected where required. A records specialist runs it before a transaction or a check exit where the card set is the proof of what was done. You receive a supported exception list, a source map from card to instruction, and a closure plan for the incomplete cards.
When this review is needed
- A Dash 8 is coming off a heavy check and the closed card set is the evidence the work was done.
- A buyer will sample the task cards behind the program status and wants them complete first.
- Cards were closed at a line station and the sign-off discipline needs confirming.
- A required inspection item has to show the independent inspection stamp on its card.
The problem
A program status says a task is complete; the task card is what proves it. On a Dash 8 whose checks were worked across regional facilities, cards close with missing sign-offs, an inspection stamp absent on a required inspection item, or a reference to a maintenance instruction revision that cannot be produced. A card that reads complete on its face but lacks the mechanic's sign-off or the inspector's stamp is not evidence, and a buyer sampling the set will find the weak ones.
What gets reviewed
- Routine cards checked for the mechanic sign-off closing each step
- Required inspection items confirmed to carry the independent inspection stamp
- Each card's referenced maintenance instruction and revision located
- Deferred and carried-forward items on cards reconciled to their disposition
- The card set reconciled to the check package it belongs to
- Legibility and completeness of the closed cards as evidence
Scope this review
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What gets validated
- Each closed card carries the sign-off that authorizes its completion
- Required inspection items show the independent inspection stamp
- The maintenance instruction and revision a card cites can be produced
- Deferred items on cards tie to a disposition that resolves them
- The card set accounts for the tasks the check package required
Evidence normally required
- The closed task-card set for the check or work package
- The check package or work order the cards belong to
- The referenced maintenance instructions at the revisions cited
- The list of required inspection items for the package
- The program status the cards are meant to support
Common discrepancies
- A closed card missing the mechanic sign-off that authorizes completion
- A required inspection item with no independent inspection stamp
- A card citing a maintenance instruction revision that cannot be produced
- A deferred item on a card with no disposition resolving it
What is at stake
An incomplete task card undermines the program status built on it, because the status assumes the card is evidence. A required inspection item without its independent stamp is a finding an auditor treats seriously, and a card citing an instruction revision that cannot be produced leaves the actual work standard unclear. Reconstructing a card's sign-offs after the check crew has dispersed is difficult.
Move from findings to resolution
Move from findings to a documented resolution path.
How the work runs
Tie cards to the package
Reconcile the closed card set against the check package and required task list.
Check the sign-offs
Confirm each card carries the mechanic sign-off and, where required, the inspection stamp.
Trace the references
Locate the maintenance instruction and revision each card cites.
List the incompletes
Record unsigned and unstamped cards and the evidence needed to close them.
What the buyer receives
- A supported exception list of incomplete and unsigned cards
- A source map from each card to the instruction and stamp behind it
- A closure plan for recovering the missing sign-offs and references
Who uses the output
- Records teams confirming the card set supports the program status
- Continuing-airworthiness teams closing the check exit on complete evidence
- Buyers sampling the cards behind the reported status
How the work fits into the transaction or program
Task-card verification underpins the program status and any non-routine review, since the cards are the evidence both rest on. Its exception list drives sign-off recovery while the check facility can still assist, before a buyer samples the set or an auditor questions a required inspection item.
Aircraft-specific considerations
Dash 8 checks are frequently worked at regional line stations rather than a single base, so sign-off discipline varies across the card set and the review samples across facilities rather than assuming uniformity. Corrosion and structural task cards carry particular weight on this family given the coastal operating history, so those cards get closer attention for their inspection stamps.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
FAA and EASA differ on how a required inspection item and its independent inspection are recorded, so a Dash 8 card set has to satisfy whichever system the receiving operator uses. The review notes where card sign-off practice will need to be shown against the receiving authority's expectations.
Regulatory limits
The review confirms the closed cards are complete and traceable as evidence. It does not perform or re-perform any task, sign off or stamp any card, or make an airworthiness determination on the work.
What this review does not cover
- Performing, re-performing, or signing off any maintenance task
- Applying any inspection stamp or return-to-service entry
- Any airworthiness determination on the completed work
Specific to this review
- A card that reads complete on its face is not evidence without the sign-off and, where required, the independent inspection stamp.
- A required inspection item missing its independent stamp is the finding an auditor weighs most heavily in a card set.
- On a Dash 8 worked across line stations, sign-off gaps cluster by facility, so sampling across stations finds them faster than a random pass.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Maintenance recordkeeping content and approval-for-return-to-service requirements, including 43.9, 43.11, and Appendix B.
Federal Aviation Administration. FAA guidance on making and keeping maintenance records and acceptable recordkeeping practices.
European Union / EASA. Continuing airworthiness, maintenance records, CAMO responsibilities, and the airworthiness review process in the EASA system.
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.
Frequently asked questions
The program status shows these tasks complete. Isn't that enough?
The status reports that the tasks are closed; the cards are what prove the work was done and inspected. A card missing its sign-off or its independent inspection stamp does not support the status it feeds. A buyer sampling the set will test exactly this, so confirming the cards first protects the status they rest on.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
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