Stage: Final Publications

Regulatory Agency Final Publications

FAA Notice N_8900.450 Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program (VDRP), and Compliance Philosophy

This notice supplements current policy relating to the Aviation SafetyAction Program (ASAP) and the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program (VDRP). The changes are to policy contained within Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 8900.1, Volume 11, Chapter 1, Section 1, Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program for Air Carriers and Regulated Entities; and Volume 11, Chapter 2, Section 1, Safety Assurance System: Aviation SafetyAction Program. These changes primarily address the impact and application of the Compliance Philosophy, calling for the removal of Administrative Action as a required outcome for accepted voluntary disclosures under the VDRP, and eliminate Administrative Action and the Enforcement Decision Process (EDP) tool from application to accepted reports within ASAP, and from the current edition of FAA Order 2150.3, FAA Compliance and Enforcement Program.

FAA Notice N_8900.451 Policy Change for Applicants/Certificate Holders Submitting Information Using the SAS External Portal and Data Collection Tools

This notice supplements current policy and removes requirements
for applicants and certificate holders to use the Safety Assurance System (SAS) external portal
and Data Collection Tools (DCT).

The primary audience for this notice includes Flight Standards division managers,
Office Managers (OM), principal inspectors (PI), and certification project managers (CPM) who
have oversight responsibility for applicants and operators certificated under Title 14 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) for operations under 14 CFR parts 121, 135, and 145.
The secondary audience includes all Flight Standards divisions, branches, and offices.

FAA Notice 8900.446 OpSpec/MSpec/LOA A056, Data Link Communications

This notice announces new guidance for data link communication
operations and a mandatory revision to operations specification (OpSpec)/management
specification (MSpec)/letter of authorization (LOA) A056. This notice provides guidance for
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Standards offices and principal inspectors (PI)
assigned to operators conducting operations under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(14 CFR) parts 91, 91 subpart K (part 91K), 121, 125 (including Letter of Deviation Authority
(LODA) part 125 holders), and 135.

The primary audience for this notice is certificate-holding district offices
(CHDO), PIs, and designees overseeing operations under parts 91, 91K, 121, 125 (including
LODA A125 holders), and 135. The secondary audience includes all Flight Standards divisions,
branches, and offices.

This is a mandatory revision to A056 with a compliance date of March 29, 2018.

FAA AC_43-210A_CHG_1 Standardized Procedures for Obtaining Approval of Data Used in the Performance of Major Repairs and Major Alterations

1. PURPOSE OF THIS ADVISORY CIRCULAR (AC). This AC describes a standardized
procedure for requesting approval of technical data associated with major repairs/major
alterations. This AC also provides information that can help determine if a proposed
repair/alteration requires approved data, guidance and standardized procedures for obtaining
field approval (or approval by other means) of data, and instructions for completing the field
approval checklist.
2. PRINCIPAL CHANGES. This change to AC 43-210A adds information on the proper use
of Designated Engineering Representative (DER)-approved data for major alterations, including
examples of how to ensure the provided DER-approved data covers the entire alteration.

Opinion 01/2018 Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations in the ‘open’ and ‘specific’ categories

In accordance with the proposed new Basic Regulation, for which a political agreement between the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament was reached on 22 December 2017, the competence of the EU has been extended to cover the regulation of all civil unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), regardless of their maximum take-off masses (MTOMs). The objective of this Opinion is to create a new regulatory framework that defines measures to mitigate the risk of operations in the:

  • ‘open’ category, through a combination of limitations, operational rules, requirements for the competency of the remote pilot, as well as technical requirements for UAS, such that the UAS operator may conduct the operation without prior authorisation by the competent authority, or without submitting a declaration; and
  • ‘specific’ category, through a system that includes a risk assessment being conducted by the UAS operator before starting an operation, or an operator complying with a standard scenario, or an operator holding a certificate with privileges.

Moreover, this Opinion is intended to:

  • implement an operation-centric, proportionate, risk- and performance-based regulatory framework for all UAS operations conducted in the ‘open’ and ‘specific’ categories;
  • ensure a high and uniform level of safety for UAS operations;
  • foster the development of the UAS market; and
  • contribute to addressing citizens’ concerns regarding security, privacy, data protection, and environmental protection.

The proposed regulations will provide flexibility to Member States (MSs), mainly by allowing them to create zones within their territories where the use of UAS would be prohibited, limited or, in contrast, facilitated. Pursuant to the new Basic Regulation, market product legislation (CE marking) ensures compliance with the technical requirements for mass-produced UAS operated in the ‘open’ category. Two acts are proposed that follow different adoption procedures, as defined by the new Basic Regulation: a delegated act that defines the conditions for making UAS available on the market and the conditions for UAS operations conducted by a third-country operator, and an implementing rule that defines the conditions to operate UAS and the conditions for registration. The proposed regulatory framework is expected to increase the level of safety of UAS operations, to harmonise legislation among the EU MSs, and to create an EU market that will reduce the cost of UAS and allow cross-border operations.