2016 EWIS Failure Analysis of Commercial Airlines White Paper

July 10, 2017 Michael Traskos

Once every couple years, Lectromec reviews the FAA’s service difficulty reporting (SDR) system to determine the number of EWIS failures in the American commercial airline fleet. We have reviewed the data, performed a thorough analysis, and placed the conclusions into a white paper. This whitepaper provides details the process and the frequency of EWIS failures. […] Read more

Signs of an Aging Wiring System

May 1, 2017 Michael Traskos

All components wear out over time, but the rate at which they degrade will vary depending on the quality of the product, how is it handled, and the environmental conditions in which the component is installed. To consider all the potential ways that an EWIS can fail, it can be overwhelming. As a brief list […] Read more

EWIS SLEP Reassessment

August 9, 2016 Michael Traskos

In past articles, we have talked about a comprehensive assessment of Electrical Wire Interconnected System (EWIS) Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that is possible with following the guidance laid out in MIL-HDBK-525. One of the areas that Lectromec did not cover thoroughly in these articles is what to do five or ten years after the […] Read more

Wire & Cable meets Lectromec: A summary of the interview

April 24, 2015 John Gilroy

Last week Michael Traskos, President of Lectromec and noted EWIS expert, sat down with Mary Gannon, Senior Writer from Wire & Cable Tips, for a podcast interview. This article summarizes the interview. Read more

Commercial airliner EWIS life extension

January 19, 2015 Michael Traskos

This article is the first in a series aimed to inform how to safely extend the life of commercial aircraft from the electrical wire interconnection system (EWIS) perspective, or what some would call EWIS Life Extension. The article gives an overview of the 2008 Federal Aviation Administration’s guidelines for EWIS. Read more

EWIS SLEP: 5 days in the desert

December 5, 2014 Michael Traskos

As part of a project with the US Navy, Lectromec staff was in Tucson for one week supporting a service life extension program (SLEP). We all know that aircraft are designed for a given number of flight hours. One question that an asset manager may ask is if the aircraft has reached this threshold, is it still able to accomplish its mission? In the terms of commercial aircraft, can the asset deliver passengers safely and reliably? It is only reasonable that an assessment should be performed to determine what changes might be necessary to accomplish this. Read more

Aircraft EWIS failure investigation

September 5, 2014 Emma Schwoerer

When systems fail, it is often necessary to identify the fault source in order to know where to assign the blame (legal), determine if a maintenance action is necessary (customer support), or improve a product (development). When it comes to aerospace incident investigation, it can be difficult to isolate the cause of faults occurring in-flight. […] Read more

EWIS failure and the MQ-1B Predator incident

August 22, 2014 Michael Traskos

On May 2013, a US Air Force MQ-1B General Atomics Predator aircraft crashed north of Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. The estimated loss was over $4.5 million. This is a good example of EWIS failure. Below are some of the key EWIS-related findings from the United States Air Force Abbreviated Accident Investigation Board Report. […] Read more

Life prediction of aircraft EWIS components

May 29, 2014 Michael Traskos

Aircraft vehicle reliability rests on well-designed components maintaining full functionality through the entire life cycle, or at the very least, maintaining full functionality until a predictable life limit is reached so that sustainment activities can be performed. Selection of wires and EWIS components is no different. The selection process starts with the functional requirements (electrical […] Read more

EWIS: A 13-minute summary of MIL-HDBK-525

April 30, 2014 Michael Traskos

This Lectromec presentation provides a brief summary of MIL-HDBK-525, “Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) Integrity Program.” It provides a starting point for those involved in Mechanical Equipment and Subsystems Integrity Program (MECSIP) or those new to the EWIS service life extension efforts. This fifteen minute presentation is a good description of Electrical Wire Interconnect Systems […] Read more

Aging Wires & Systems