European Aviation Safety Agency

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with offices in Cologne, Germany, which has been given regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety. It was created on 15 July 2002, and it reached full functionality in 2008, taking over functions of the JAA (Joint Aviation Authorities). EFTA countries have been granted participation in the agency.

The agency’s responsibilities include:


 * giving advice to the European Union for drafting new legislation;
 * implementing and monitoring safety rules, including inspections in the Member States;
 * type-certification of aircraft and components, as well as the approval of organisations involved in the design, manufacture and maintenance of aeronautical products;
 * authorization of third-country (non EU) operators;
 * safety analysis and research.

As part of Single European Sky-II the agency have been given more tasks. These will be implemented before 2013. Amongst other things, EASA will now be able to certify Functional Airspace Blocks if more than three parties are involved.

Differences from JAA
The JAA was headquartered at Hoofddorp, Amsterdam. One difference between EASA and JAA is that EASA has legal regulatory authority within the European Union (EU) through the enactment of its regulations through the European Commission, Council of the European Union and European Parliament, while most of the JAA regulatory products were harmonized codes without direct force of law. Also, some JAA nations such as Turkey were outside the EU whereas by definition, EASA is an agency of the EU and other nations adopt its rules and procedures on a voluntary basis.

Jurisdiction
EASA has jurisdiction over new type certificates and other design-related airworthiness approvals for aircraft, engines, propellers and parts. EASA works with the National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) of the EU members but has taken over many of their functions in the interest of aviation standardisation across the EU. EASA is also responsible for assisting the European Commission in negotiating international harmonisation agreements with the Rest Of the World (ROW) on behalf of the EU member states and also concludes technical agreements at a working level directly with its counterparts around the world such as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). EASA also sets policy for aeronautical repair stations (Part 145 organizations in Europe and the US - also known as Part 571 organizations in Canada) and issues repair station certificates for repair stations located outside the EU (which permits foreign repair stations to perform work acceptable to the European Union on EU aircraft). EASA has developed regulations for air operations, flight crew licensing and non-EU aircraft used in the EU and these shall apply after the required European legislation to expand the Agency's remit enters into force (the legislation was published on 19 March 2008 )

Part-66 Certifying Staff
In Europe, Aircraft Maintenance Certifying Personnel have to comply to part-66 Certifying Staff of the EASA.

Part 66 is based on the older JAR system and the required training level follows the ATA 104 system. There are 3 levels of authorization:

Category A (Line Maintenance Mechanic): Basic A category License + Task Training (Level depends on Task Complexity) + Company Certification Authorization for specific Tasks ("A category A aircraft maintenance licence permits the holder to issue certificates of release to service following minor scheduled line maintenance and simple defect rectification within the limits of tasks specifically endorsed on the authorisation. The certification privileges shall be restricted to work that the licence holder has personally performed in a Part-145 organisation"),

Category B1 (Mechanical) and/or B2(Avionics) (Line Maintenance Technician): Basic B1/B2 category License + Type Training (i.e. Line and Base Maintenance i.a.w. ATA 104 Level III) + Company Certification Authorization ("A category B1 aircraft maintenance licence shall permit the holder to issue certificates of release to service following maintenance, including aircraft structure, powerplant and mechanical and electrical systems. Replacement of avionic line replaceable units, requiring simple tests to prove their serviceability, shall also be included in the privileges. Category B1 shall automatically include the appropriate A subcategory", "A category B2 aircraft maintenance licence shall permit the holder to issue certificates of release to service following maintenance on avionic and electrical systems").

Category C (Base Maintenance Engineer): Basic C category license + Type Training (Line & Base Maintenance i.a.w. ATA 104 Level III for the first Type Rating and ATA 104 Level I training for subsequent Aircraft Types of similar technology, otherwise Level III training) + Company Certification Authorization ("A category C aircraft maintenance licence shall permit the holder to issue certificates of release to service following base maintenance on aircraft. The privileges apply to the aircraft in its entirety in a Part-145 organisation").

A significant difference between the US and the European systems is that in the United States, aircraft maintenance technicians (Part 65 Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics) are permitted to work under their own certificates and approve their own work for return to service. European Part 66 certificate holders are required to perform their functions under the aegis of a Part 145 organization for Transport Category and Large (MTOM>5700 kg) Airplanes. The part 145 organization in the EASA system has the authority to approve for return to service. Many non-European countries have been moving toward the European approach, most notably Canada (See Part 571 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations).

Part-145 Maintenance Organisation Approval
To obtain approval to be an aeronautical repair station, an organisation must write, submit and keep updated a 'Maintenance Organisation Exposition (MOE). To support their MOE they must have a documented set of procedures. Thirdly the organisation must have a compliance matrix to show how they meet the requirements of Part-145.

EASA Part-M Continuing Airworthiness
EASA Part-M consists of several subparts. The noteworthy subparts are F (Maintenance for aircraft below 5700 kg in non commercial environment), G (Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization = CAMO, coordinating the compliance of aircraft with maintenance program, airworthiness directives and service bulletins) - the airworthiness code is available on the EASA website ([easa.europa.eu]) in the regulations section.

EASA Part-147 Training Organisation Requirements
To go with Part-66 on the issuing of licenses is the larger area of setting up and gaining approval for a training school for aircraft mechanics. Part-147 governs the larger situation of establishing such a training school.

EASA Part-21 Subpart J Design Organisation
'Design organisation' means an organisation responsible for the design of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, auxiliary power units, or related parts and appliances, and holding, or applying for, type-certificates, supplemental type-certificates, changes or repairs design approvals or ETSO Authorisations. A design organisation holds DOA, Design Organisation Approval. A DOA-List enlisting all companies holding DO Approval with their capabilities can be downloaded from the EASA web-site.

Part 21 requirements for Design Organisation Approvals and Production Organisation Approvals, as described in Regulation (EC) 1702/2003 on 'Implementing Rules'

EASA Part-21 Subpart G Production Organisation
A company holding Production Organisation Approval (POA), has the approval to build and certify aircraft parts when a DOA POA agreement is in place.

A part built for an aircraft can be certificated with an EASA Form One as approved for a particular aircraft type once it has been installed as prototype to an aircraft and has been certificated by a Design Organisation with a Minor Change Approval, a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) or a Type Certificate (TC).

Safety analysis and research activities
The work of the European Aviation Safety Agency centres on ensuring the highest levels of civil aviation safety, through certification of aviation products, approval of organisations to provide aviation services, development and implementation of a standardised European regulatory framework.

These tasks are supported by:


 * coordination of internal and external safety improvement initiatives. For instance the European Strategic Safety Initiative (ESSI)  is an aviation safety partnership between EASA, other regulators and the industry aiming to further enhance safety for citizens in Europe and worldwide through safety analysis, implementation of cost effective action plans, and coordination with other safety initiatives worldwide.
 * providing reports concerning the safety of European and worldwide aviation,
 * focal point for coordination of aviation accident investigation safety recommendations.

Annual Aviation Safety Review
EASA is tasked by Article 15(4) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 to provide a review of aviation safety on an annual basis.

The Annual Safety Review presents statistics on European and worldwide civil aviation safety. The statistics are grouped according to type of operation, for instance commercial air transport, and aircraft category, such as aeroplanes, helicopters, gliders etc. EASA had access to accident and statistical information collected by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). States are required, according to ICAO Annex 13 on Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, to report to ICAO information on accidents and serious incidents to aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off mass (MTOM) over 2250 kg. Therefore, most statistics in this review concern aircraft above this mass. In addition to the ICAO data, a request was made to the EASA Member States to obtain light aircraft accident data. Furthermore, data on the operation of aircraft for commercial air transport was obtained from both ICAO and the NLR Air Transport Safety Institute.

Certification
On 28 September 2003, the EASA took over responsibility for the airworthiness and environmental certification of all aeronautical products, parts, and appliances designed, manufactured, maintained or used by persons under the regulatory oversight of EU Member States.

The Certification work also includes all post-certification activities, such as the approval of changes to, and repairs of, aeronautical products and their components, as well as the issuing of airworthiness directives to correct any potentially unsafe situation.

All type-certificates are therefore now issued by the EASA and are valid throughout the European Union. It also carries out the same role for foreign organisations involved in the manufacture or maintenance of such products. The EASA relies on national aviation authorities who have historically filled this role and concludes contractual arrangements to this effect.