Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) Review

The national aviation authority will issue a certificate of airworthiness (CoA) for the aircraft in the state in which it is registered.
The CoA attests that the aircraft is airworthy and conforms to its type design.

For EASA member states, an aircraft is issued a certificate of airworthiness that is non-expiring but is validated annually with an Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC).
The ARC review can be performed by a Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) with Part M Subpart I approval.
An ARC review is performed annually and a “full” ARC takes place every third year.

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Non-Incidence / Accident Statement

Commonly referred to as the NIAS (Non incident or accident statement) or NIS (Non incident statement), this is a letter which acts as a statement that a component, part or aircraft has not been involved in an “accident” or “incident” during a noted time scale of operation and is issued by a CAMO (Continued Airworthiness Management Organisation) typically.

The letter will state typically the period of operation that it covers along then with the operator details or owner details making the statement.

The specifics for the item covered should also be noted. This will differ a little depending on what the statement is for; for example, an aircraft NIAS would note the Aircraft Registration, MSN (Manufacturers Serial Number), Total Airframe Hours & Cycles at the time of the statement along then with the PN (Part Number) or SN (Serial Number) for major components like the engines.

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External Fuselage Damage

On a transition, existing damage to the aircraft will be a common encounter as damage will occur throughout an aircraft’s life.

If we consider fuselage damage, what we need to know and consider is important and will commonly include, but not limited to the following:

Where is the area that the damage is – how we can pinpoint it; to usually illustrate FRame’s and  STRinger’s will be used. The Frame is a longitudinal measurement and the stringer a circumferential one.

The damage type itself should be included– this might be a dent, scratch, gouge, lightning strike or crack for example.

The damage dimensions should be recorded; for example, a dent would have a length, width and depth measurement.

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Location of Passenger Accommodations

LOPA stands for ‘Location of Passenger Accommodations”, which is a specification drawing of the interior design and layout of the cabin interior.

The LOPA is a diagram displaying the locations of the flight deck, attendant and passenger seats, lavatories, galleys, emergency equipment, windbreakers and other monuments. The Emergency Equipment Listing (EEL) is included as part of the LOPA and lists the part numbers of all emergency equipment.

If an airline wants to change the interior configuration of the cabin in a major way, they must do so through a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC).
The STC will generally cover the following changes:
·       Seating Layout (LOPA)
·       PSU Layout
·       Emergency Equipment Layout
·       Floor path marking system installation
·       Carpet installation
·       Curtin installations
·       Monument installation and removal

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Landing Gear Reviews – Lease Returns – Lease Delivery

When reviewing the Technical Records associated with a Landing Gear on a Lease Return it is common for a consultant to treat THE LANDING GEAR itself as a Hard Time Component (HT) and THE PARTS that make up the Landing gear in many cases are the Life Limited Parts (LLPs).

The maintenance requirements include overhauls in which the landing gear must be removed from the aircraft and sent to shop for them to be overhauled. This process alone is very expensive and time consuming.

The cost of a landing gear itself as a component is vast and so a review of the complete landing gear records is of paramount importance and depending on the age of an aircraft and the duration of a lease the landing gear may or may not be the original installed. You should have the certification for the landing gear installed; a EASA Form 1 and / or an FAA 8130-3.

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