New FAA SUPs Reporting Form

The FAA has published an updated version of the Form 8120-11. This is the form for reporting suspected unapproved parts (SUPs).

One obvious change is the Privacy Act statement, which is bolder and moved to a separate front page (the substance remains similar). The information in the form, though, remains substantially unchanged.

This is not the first update to the form. The 2016 version of the form placed the instructions on the first page so that people could read them before getting to the form (the 2009 version placed the instructions after the form and before the continuation sheet, which caused some confusion).

The FAA estimates that it receives about 150 of these completed forms per year. They also believe that the form takes about 30 minutes to complete. Most importantly, the FAA uses these forms as the first step in assessing whether an unapproved parts investigation is warranted.

If you encounter a Suspected Unapproved Parts, or SUP, then reporting is typically voluntary under the regulations; however many aviation companies have imposed mandatory SUPs reporting requirements on themselves (as a commercial obligation) through their quality manuals or operations manuals.  Be sure to follow your own internal guidance when considering whether to report a SUP!