Yes, sometimes you can be part of the action team Inspectors in training, either of the National Authority (AESA) and of other international authorities that are forming in Spain. On the other hand, Observer personnel, belonging to different services of the State Aviation Safety Agency or even other bodies or organisations, may also be present at the inspection, but without active participation in the inspection.

In addition to receiving an appointment as a ramp inspector who authorises them as qualified personnel to carry out such inspections, all ramp inspectors must be accredited during the physical inspection, for which they must carry the corresponding Inspector’s Card and the action order issued by AESA, in accordance with Article 11 and Article 12 of Royal Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009 approving the Aeronautical Inspection Regulation. Such documents are sufficient for proper identification, and other identification documents (e.g.

Ramp inspectors must be authorised to carry out ramp inspections, for which they must first pass a specific training process (theoretical and practical) the detailed content of which is laid down and defined in European legislation (Regulation (EU) No 965/20102, ARO.RAMP.115 Qualification of ramp inspectors) which enables them to carry out this activity and is complemented by the training processes and plans established by EASA for the different inspection profiles, also in compliance with national rules (Article 26 of Law 21/2003 of 7 July 2003 on Aviation Safety and Article 7 of Royal Dec

The Spanish authority, AESA, as part of its role of aeronautical inspection for the supervision and control of compliance with the rules of the various activities specific to civil aviation, has the power to carry out the aeronautical inspection within the scope defined in Article 20 of Law 21/2003 of 7 July 2003 on Air Safety, among which are the inspections in Rampa, enabling the official inspectors to carry out this activity to access any airport, aerodrome or aeronautical installation in Spain where operations of aircraft of any type are carried out, in accordance with Article 25 of the

No, notice is never made and this is not required.

Although the programme started in 1996 by inspecting commercial operators, today the programme includes:

a) SAFA inspections: any aircraft except those defined as State aircraft under the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation of Chicago;

b) SACA inspections: any aircraft except those carrying out military, customs, police, search and rescue, fire-fighting, border control, coastal surveillance or similar activities or services, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 Article 2 and Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Annex II, Subpart RAMP.

Any aircraft taking off or landing at a Spanish airport/airfield, regardless of nationality, aircraft type or type of operation, may be inspected by AESA, directly or through public bodies or state-owned commercial companies, which have the status of their own instrumental means and technical service of the General State Administration and its bodies and bodies governed by public law, which are entrusted with carrying out the physical actions of the aeronautical inspection of a technical or specialised nature, in accordance with Article 3.

Ramp inspection results are recorded by the Inspection Test Inspection Team (POI). The usual practice is that the Commander/Pilot of the newly inspected aircraft command, or the representative of the designated carrier, be informed of the results in the event that the flight crew has been allowed to leave the aircraft, giving him a copy of the POI.

Subsequently, with the upload of the file in the centralised EASA database, the operator or the inspected individual will be formally informed of the conduct of the inspection and of the results of the inspection.

Non-compliances detected during a ramp inspection are called findings or findings. The absolute number of inspection findings represents an important result of the inspection process that provides valuable information about the aircraft concerned or its responsible operator. On the other hand, this should be carefully taken into account in relation to the “severity” of the findings. To that end, three categories of findings or findings have been defined as indicated in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ARO.RAMP.130:

Authorised inspectors use a checklist with 53 points to be inspected during ramp inspections, divided into four (4) Categories:

a) Flight cabin,
b) Safety elements/passenger cabin,
c) Status of aircraft,
d) Cargo, and
e) General aspects