1 Certificate of Airworthiness

1.1 General

Certificates of Airworthiness shall be issued to aircraft which conform to a type-certificate that has been issued in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1702/2003 Part 21 (since 28th September 2003) or to a type-certificate that has been issued prior to 28th September 2003 and transferred to EASA.

1.2 Classification

Airworthiness Certificates are classified as follows:

• Certificate of Airworthiness
• Restricted Certificate of Airworthiness

• Permit to fly

1.3 Reason for a Certificate of Airworthiness

The European Parliament and the Council issued and published the Regulation (EC) No 216/2008. Article 20 of this regulation explains the duties in accordance with the Chicago Convention as of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The ICAO is an agency of the United Nations, responsible for international rules governing all areas of civil aviation. Article 31 of the so called “Chicago Convention” states that "Every aircraft engaged in international navigation shall be provided with a certificate of airworthiness issued or rendered valid by the State in which it is registered".

1.4 Applicable Rules and Regulations

The Regulation (EC) No. 216/2008, Article 4 splits aircraft into two groups. The requirements of the aircraft are included in Annexes to the Regulation (EC) No. 216/2008, therefore the aircraft are allocated as follows:

• Annex I Aircraft
• Annex II Aircraft

ANNEX I Aircraft are subject to European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulation. Thus, the regulation as laid down in Annex to 1702/2003 (Part 21) and Annex I to (EC) No. 2042/2003 (Part M) fully applies.

ANNEX II Aircraft on the Austrian Register remain subject to Austrian legislation.

These aircraft are exempted from the procedures herein and ZLLV 2005 still applies.

Annex to (EC) No. 1702/2003, often referred to as “Part 21” concerns in detail the issue of Airworthiness certificates.

1.5 Requirements to receive a Certificate of Airworthiness

In accordance with the Annex to (EC) 1702/2003 (Part 21) the issue of the Certificate is pending on several circumstances, such as:

• The Condition of the Aircraft (new or used)
• State of Origin of the Type Certificate, or where the aircraft is produced
• The previous State of Registry for used aircraft (EU or third country)

The required documents, which have to be provided to Austro Control prior the issue of the Certificate of Airworthiness are as detailed in the following table (Please Note, that the referenced Checklist is a recommendation and assistance from Austro Control. It is sufficient if the information mentioned within the checklist is provided but not the checklist itself. The checklist is marked with *1).

Requirements in accordance with Annex to (EC) No. 1702/2003 (Part 21), Subpart H

2 Required Documents

The following documents are required to operate an aircraft:

• Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA)
• Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC)
• Noise Certificate (NC)
• Qualification Certificate (QC)

• Operational Certificates/Approvals

To allow Austro Control to issue the documents, the required information according to “Checklist to issue Austrian Aircraft Documents” (Version 2, 22.07.2011) as mentioned in table 1 have to be submitted to Austro Control.

The following figure gives an overview of the coherences of the documents, their origin, and those documents issued by Austro Control.

3 Alteration to the Type Design

3.1 General

Note 1: Automatic acceptance of changes and repairs is possible if they are in compliance with the EASA Executive Director Decisions in force with the respective country.

http://www.easa.europa.eu/ws_prod/c/c_awdir.php

Note 2: If approval of a change or repair is required, please refer to the “Distribution of Tasks”, in order to address the application to the correct institution.

(http://www.easa.europa.eu/ws_prod/c/c_awdir.php)

These notes are intended to provide guidance to anyone considering applying for an Austrian Certificate of Airworthiness for an aircraft imported from outside the European Union (EU) that incorporates modifications or repairs not previously approved by EASA.

3.2 Background to Changes

Annex to Regulation (EC) No. 1702/2003 (Part 21) specifies the requirements for approving modifications ("changes"). Any modification approved by any of the EU member states before 28th September 2003 is deemed approved by EASA, and will not need to be technically investigated again, if it is not restricted to a certain serial number range, where the applicable product would not be affected. Please note, however, that responsibility rests with the applicant to demonstrate the approval status when applying for a Certificate of Airworthiness.

Under EASA, aircraft owners can still apply for the issue of a Certificate of Airworthiness, but can no longer apply for approval of major modifications (this includes modifications where design approval is via FAA Forms 337 and 8110-3).

Modifications embodied on an aircraft registered in an EU member state must be approved in accordance with EU Regulation (EC) no. 1702/2003. This also applies to aircraft joining the register of an EU member state from outside the EU after this date.

EASA approval can be achieved via the following routes:

Minor Modification

Application for EASA approval should be made to EASA using Form 32 (and anyone from within the EU can apply). Alternatively, a Design Organisation appropriately approved in accordance with Annex to Regulation (EC) No. 1702/2003, Part 21 Subpart J can approve it directly.

Modifications approved by the FAA via a STC:

If the modification has not been approved by an EU member state before 28th September 2003, it needs EASA approval, and the STC holder should apply for this through their FAA Office. If the STC holder cannot be found or will not/cannot apply, you will need to find another appropriately approved Design Organisation prepared, in effect, to start again by making application for a new modification (and they will be expected to take responsibility for the WHOLE modification). If the modification is classified as minor change according 21A.91 AMC materials, irrespective of the Status of the FAA STC, it can be approved as minor modification as explained above.

The same applies to modifications approved via FAA Form 337 where no STC was issued. Please contact department AC for further guidance.

Please note that the Type Certificate Holders are given further rights with respect to changes to aircraft by Executive Director Decision 2004/04/CF. Refer to the Decision and subsequent amendments for further information.

4 Repairs

Repair design approvals are issued in accordance with EASA Regulation (EC) Nr. 1702/2003, Part 21, Section A, Subpart M if there is no Executive Director Decision in force which regulates the acceptance of such repair design.

Please note that the Type Certificate Holders are given further privileges with respect to repairs design of aircraft by Executive Director Decision 2004/04/CF. Refer to the Decision and subsequent amendments for further information.

5 Restricted Certificate of Airworthiness

Restricted certificates of airworthiness shall be issued to aircraft:

• Which conform to a restricted type-certificate that has been issued in accordance with Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1702/2003 Part 21; or

• Which have been shown to the Agency to comply with specific certification specifications ensuring adequate safety.

6 Permits to Fly

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 375/2007 21A.701, amending Regulation (EC) No. 1702/2003, permits to fly shall be issued to aircraft that do not meet, or have not been shown to meet, applicable certification specifications but are capable of safe flight under defined conditions and for the following purposes:

1. Development; 
2. Showing compliance with regulations; 
3. Design organisations or production organisations crew training; 
4. Production flight testing of new production aircraft; 
5. Flying aircraft under production from between production facilities; 
6. Flying the aircraft for customer acceptance; 
7. Delivering or exporting the aircraft;
8. Flying the aircraft for authority acceptance;
9. Market survey, including customer’s crew training;
10. Exhibition and air show;
11. Flying the aircraft to a location where maintenance or airworthiness review are to be performed, or to a place of storage;
12. Flying the aircraft at a weight in excess of its maximum certified takeoff weight for flight beyond the normal range over water, or over land areas where adequate landing facilities or appropriate fuel is not available;
13. Record breaking, air racing or similar competition;
14. Flying aircraft meeting the applicable airworthiness requirements before conformity to the environmental requirements has been found;
15. For non-commercial flying activity on individual non-complex aircraft or types for which a certificate of airworthiness or restricted certificate of airworthiness is not appropriate.