The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has prepared a significant change to EASA Part M – Continuing Airworthiness requirements, which is Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) 1321/2014. The Commission Regulation (EU) 1321/2014 has recently been amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1383.
So what will this change bring and what it will mean for industry and National Airworthiness Authorities?
Firstly, the change will introduce a new structure to the (EU) 1321/2014 regulation by amending Part M (Annex I) and adding additional Annexes to it. EASA is aiming to simplify Part M and will introduce a new Annex V(b) (Part ML) (M Light) which will be specific to non-commercial and noncomplex aircraft of less than 2730kg.
This will separate the existing continuing airworthiness requirements for small aircraft from the requirements applicable for licensed air carriers and other complex aircraft, currently addressed together under Part M (annex I). This should facilitate easier implementation of the regulations for the organisations and individuals.
Secondly, EASA will replace the existing Subpart G to Part M with a separate Part CAMO – Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (Annex V(c)). The Part CAMO will be based on the existing Subpart G requirements and will introduce additional requirements for Management Systems and Internal Safety Reporting. The organisation will be required to establish, implement and maintain a Management System which will include Safety Management and Compliance Monitoring. The system will have to include clearly defined lines of responsibility and accountability, safety policy, identified actions to mitigate the risks, continuous training for personnel and monitoring system. The Management System has been always mandatory for the operators, but a comprehensive requirement was missing for the airworthiness organisations. This new addition will address this gap.
Under the new internal safety reporting scheme, organisations will be required to collect information and ensure evaluation of all known information relevant to errors, inability to follow procedures, near misses and hazards. This means that organisations will continue reporting major errors to Competent Authorities but will be also required to have an internal safety reporting system in place to address any error, near miss or hazard that occurs.
If you are unsure what the upcoming changes will mean for you and your organisation, we have introduced a one-day training course covering the latest regulations under Part CAMO. The course will also include Subpart I (Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC)). A separate two-day training course will also be available covering the other aspects within Part M.
For more information about the changes to EASA Part M and these training courses, please contact our training team: +44 (0) 330 0224401; training@caainternational.com.
