This AC provides information to assist Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) certificate holders in developing a Safety Management System (SMS) that meets the requirements of 14 CFR part 5 or the SMS Voluntary Program (SMSVP). It describes an acceptable means, but not the only means, to implement and maintain an SMS.
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 91, General Operating and Flight Rules
- Part 5, Safety Management Systems
- Part 119, Certification: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators.
- Part 121, Operating Requirements: Domestic, Flag, and Supplemental Operations
- Part 135, Operating Requirements: Commuter and On Demand Operations and Rules Governing Persons On Board Such Aircraft
This Opinion delivers the results of two rulemaking tasks (RMTs): RMT.0599 ‘Update of ORO.FC’ and RMT.0681 ‘Alignment of implementing rules and acceptable means of compliance/guidance material with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014’. The detailed structure of this Opinion is given in Section 1.1.
The objective of this Opinion regarding RMT.0599 is to update the flight crew training requirements to improve pilot competencies. The proposed requirements provide additional efficiency in the field of flight crew training and achieve a smooth transition to competency-based training.
The present EBT Opinion is part of a global safety initiative endorsed by ICAO whose objective is to determine the relevance of the existing pilot training according to aircraft generation. EBT intends to improve safety and to enhance the capability of flight crews to operate the aircraft in all flight regimes and to be able to recognise and manage unexpected situations. The EBT concept is designed to maximise learning and minimise formal checking.
This Opinion is a second step in the European rulemaking actions to implement EBT. The first step was completed in 2015 with the publication of ED Decision 2015/027/R that provided guidance material to allow the implementation of a ‘mixed EBT’ which maintains the current operator proficiency check (OPC) and licence proficiency check (LPC). This Opinion proposes further changes to the Air OPS and Air Crew Regulations to allow authorities to approve the baseline EBT, which replaces OPC and LPC. This will allow a single philosophy of recurrent training within the airline. Further work is foreseen in the context of the activities of RMT.0599 to allow expansion of EBT to the operator conversion course and initial type rating, as well as to other types of aircraft (e.g. helicopters and business jets).
The impact assessment (IA) shows that the implementation of EBT by the operator on a voluntary basis is the preferred option in regulating recurrent training and checking of flight crew. The IA illustrates that the proposed rules contribute to significant improvement in safety by strengthening the competencies of flight crews while providing a cost-efficient and socially acceptable framework.
Opinion 08/2019 (B)
This Opinion delivers the results of two rulemaking tasks (RMTs): RMT.0599 ‘Update of ORO.FC’ and RMT.0681 ‘Alignment of implementing rules and acceptable means of compliance/guidance material with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014’. The detailed structure of this Opinion is given in Section 1.1.
The objective of this Opinion regarding RMT.0681 is to update Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (the Aircrew Regulation) in order to be aligned with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 as regards the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation.
The changes proposed through RMT.0681 aim at mitigating the risks of overlaps and ambiguities that exist in the current regulatory framework due to the coexistence of reporting requirements in the delegated and implementing acts of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (the Basic Regulation) and in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 and its delegated and implementing acts. The proposed changes are expected to increase legal certainty, support EASA standardisation inspections in the area of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, and support the implementation of effective occurrence-reporting systems as part of safety management.
The objective of this Opinion is to mitigate the risks linked to the uncertainty of the status of the instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) and, therefore, to avoid leaving room for interpretation in the rules, leading to differences in the use of ICA and causing possible safety risks.
In order to achieve this, this Opinion proposes to amend Annex I (Part 21) to Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 to clarify that the ICA are part of the type certificate (TC). It also proposes to merge the requirements related to record keeping, manuals and ICA in the various subparts into a single requirement for each of these aspects in Subpart A (new points 21.A.5, 21.A.6 and 21.A.7).
The proposed amendments are expected to improve the harmonisation of the ICA among the design approval holders (DAHs) in relation to the identification, approval, formatting and availability of the ICA to the end users.
Another objective of this Opinion is to propose more proportionate and efficient requirements by introducing commensurate manufacturing requirements for new spare parts. The need to require a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Form 1 to attest manufacturing in accordance with the approved design data is considered disproportionate for certain parts.
In order to achieve this, this Opinion proposes to relax the requirement that all parts installed on an aircraft have to be issued with an EASA Form 1 or equivalent when they are installed during maintenance work. Instead, it is proposed that certain parts that do not impact safety could be manufactured outside the Part 21 production environment and do not require an EASA Form 1 to be installed in a product. Similarly, it is proposed that these parts should be exempted from the requirement to be maintained in a maintenance organisation approved in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014.
The proposed amendments are expected to reduce the regulatory burden on maintenance organisations that use these parts during their maintenance work, so they would be able to easily obtain the parts, without decreasing the level of safety.
