In the 21st century we commonly accomplish two things to protect ourselves and our investments:
- We insure valuable assets for at least the cost to repair, or replace, the asset should it become damaged or we suffer a loss of use.
- We back-up high-priority paper documentation with digital copies in the event the paper is lost or damaged.
Aircraft logbooks, of course, represent both. They are both a high-value asset (experts agree that up logbooks represent over 30% of the value of the aircraft); and they are a high-priority asset in that they record the history of Airworthiness on the aircraft, and are always used to Validate an aircraft’s current Airworthiness.
Here is the best way to make digital copies of aircraft logbooks:
- The aircraft’s original records are scanned and certified by an A&P that the scanned copies are an exact replica of the original records. So, going into the secure system they’re solid.
- Next, the scanned copies are immediately placed into an AC120-78A compliant security system for the life of the aircraft avoiding the opportunity for someone to alter the documents.
- These records are then available for using as “original” records anytime they are needed in the future, with assurance that the records have not been altered. That way, if it becomes necessary for another A&P Technician to certify one or all the documents as an exact copy of the original, he/she would be able to do so without concern that they never actually saw the original paper document(s).
Conclusion:
We should back-up our aircraft’s existing and on-going paper records properly with secure digital copies in the event of damage or loss.
