AAIB Safety Study

Report Overview

Introduction

Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) 996/2010, concerning the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation, states:

‘A safety investigation authority may also issue safety recommendations on the basis of studies or analysis of a series of investigations or other activities conducted in accordance with Article 4(4).’

Since 2008, the AAIB investigations of several general aviation (GA) fatal accidents involving aircraft registered overseas revealed common airworthiness issues. A safety study was initiated by the AAIB to determine if these issues were associated with aircraft not registered in the UK, but resident and operated within it.

This overview has been truncated. Please refer to the official documents below for the complete canonical report.

Official Documents

Safety Study 1-2016 01-16

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Safety Recommendation Document: AAIB Safety Study - 1/2016

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Extracted text from the first few pages of the official documents.

Safety Study 1-2016 01-16

3� Crown copyright 2016 AAIB Safety Study - 1/2016 Farnborough House Berkshire Copse Road Aldershot, Hants GU11 2HH Tel: 01252 510300 Fax: 01252 376999 www.aaib.gov.uk AAIB Air Accidents Investigation Branch AIRWORTHINESS OF AIRCRAFT REGISTERED OVERSEAS AND RESIDENT IN THE UK Introduction Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) 996/2010, concerning the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation, states: ‘A safety investigation authority may also issue safety recommendations on the basis of studies or analysis of a series of investigations or other activities conducted in accordance with Article 4(4).’ Since 2008, the AAIB investigations of several general aviation (GA) fatal accidents involving aircraft registered overseas revealed common airworthiness issues. A safety study was initiated by the AAIB to determine if these issues were associated with aircraft not registered in the UK, but resident 1 and operated within it. Initial information The investigations of several fatal accidents 2 involving foreign registered General Aviation (GA) aircraft identified the following: ●●Aircraft not registered in a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Member State, but operated and resident in the UK, which have not complied with the requirements of the Air Navigation Order (ANO). ●●Aircraft not registered in an EASA Member State, but operated and resident in the UK, which had no effective airworthiness oversight from the State of Registration or the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). ●●Aircraft registered in another EASA Member State, but operated and resident in the UK, which did not comply with EASA airworthiness requirements or the requirements of the ANO. ●●Aircraft registered in another EASA Member State, but operated and resident in the UK, which had no effective airworthiness oversight from the State of Registration or the UK CAA. Footnote 1 Consistent with UK Department for Transport rules on foreign vehicles imported into the UK, the safety study considers aircraft operated and based in the country for six months or more to be permanently resident. 2 Registrations YU-HEW, HA-LFB and RA-3585K – see www.aaib.gov.uk This study contains facts which have been determined up to the time of issue. It is published to inform the aviation industry and the public of the general circumstances and should be regarded as tentative and subject to alteration or correction if additional evidence becomes available. 4� Crown copyright 2016 AAIB Safety Study: 1/2016 Additional aircraft inspections In order to determine if these issues were unique to the aircraft investigated, others that had not been involved in reportable occurrences were inspected by the AAIB on an opportunity basis 3 and the maintenance records of several EASA and non-EASA registered aircraft were examined. The records showed that each of these aircraft had been registered in EASA Member States previously and that a transfer of registration had coincided with the need to overhaul major components such as the engine. Discussion with maintenance organisations revealed that re-registration of the aircraft had been carried out to take advantage of lower maintenance costs in the new State of Registration. Common issues The additional inspections identified issues common with the original accident investigations. Maintenance records indicated that, immediately after the transfer of registration, aircraft had expensive life-controlled components replaced that had been overhauled by a maintenance organisation in the new State of Registration or a non-EASA Member State. Information provided by the National Airworthiness Authority (NAA) responsible for these organisations highlighted inconsistencies in the organisations’ approvals to complete this work and to release and fit components to aircraft holding an EASA Certificate of Airworthiness. The serial numbers of several replacement components indicated that they had been manufactured under licence for use only on military variants of the aircraft type. Discussion with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) confirmed that no agreement was in place to allow these components to be installed on aircraft holding an EASA Certificate of Airworthiness. The OEMs also confirmed that since the early 1990s, when the military licence agreements lapsed, no approved maintenance or manufacturing documentation had been provided to the overhaul organisations concerned. Aircraft which had previously been on the register of a non-EASA Member State and recently transferred to an EASA Member State’s register, had been issued with full EASA Certificates of Airworthiness by the Member State. Inspection of the associated records showed that large numbers of life-limited components had been recertified with EASA ‘Form 1s’ 4 during the transfer of registry. The maintenance histories of some components, including engines, were incomplete and the maintenance organisations were unable to demonstrate that all the actions necessary to confirm that these components met EASA requirements had been carried out prior to recertifying them. Continued airworthiness standards The current international standards for the continued airworthiness of aircraft are defined in the ICAO Airworthiness Manual (Doc 9760) published in 2001 and in Annex 6 - Operation Footnote 3 With the cooperation of their owners and maintenance providers. 4 This is the certificate of release to service following manufacture or repair/overhaul which states that all work on the component has been completed in accordance with the appropriate regulations. A Form 1 is required for each component replaced in order for the aircraft’s Certificate of Airworthiness to remain valid. 5� Crown copyright 2016 AAIB Safety Study: 1/2016 of Aircraft, and Annex 8 - Airworthiness of Aircraft of the 1944 ICAO Chicago Convention. The Airworthiness Manual contains standards and recommended practices intended to ensure consistent airworthiness standards are applied across all contracting States. The EASA was created in 2003. Since then, control of civil aviation airworthiness standards within European Member States (for aircraft subject to the essential requirements of Annex 1 of the EASA Basic Regulation responsibility) has been gradually transferred from the individual States’ NAAs to the EASA, a process which is now complete. The NAAs still exist, but their role has changed to domestic implementation and oversight of the common rules developed by the EASA, as enforcement measures can only be taken under the domestic legal system of the State in question. The Flight Standards Directorate of the EASA is responsible for the standardisation of Member State NAAs. The Directorate undertakes standardisation audits to ensure that airworthiness requirements are being applied consistently across all Member States. With the application of common airworthiness requirements across Europe, aircraft with an EASA Certificate of Airworthiness are now permitted to operate and reside within any European Member State, such as the UK, without the need to request permission from the NAAs of the countries they visit, or the need to advise them of entry and exit dates, or the likely location of the aircraft. Aircraft registered in States which are members of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) have also been granted a general exemption to operate in the UK for 28 days without requiring permission from the CAA. Aircraft registered in non-European States, but which have a Certificate of Airworthiness issued by an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Member State, are permitted to reside temporarily in the UK after permission has been sought and granted from the CAA. Hence, the CAA do not monitor foreign registered aircraft resident in the UK. In the United Kingdom, continued airworthiness standards are defined in CAP 393 – Air Navigation: The Order and Regulations, als

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