Frequently asked questions

a) SAFA: Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircrafts. These are ramp inspections carried out by a Competent Authority of an EASA Member State on operators (or registrations in the case of private aircraft) of a third State not belonging to EASA.

b) SACA: Safety Assessment of Community Aircrafts. These are ramp inspections carried out by an EASA Member State Competent Authority on operators (or registrations in the case of private aircraft) under the supervision of another EASA Member State.

The bodies and bodies with competence in the field of Aeronautical Safety (Air Safety) are:

the European Commission, as the maximum decision-making body of the Member States of the European Union;
the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the body established by the European Commission, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, for the development of the European Union’s aviation safety strategy. (c
) At national level, the State Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), established by Royal Decree (RD) 184/2008 of 8 February, is the body that has the purposes, powers and functions in the field of aviation safety for civil aviation in the territory of the Spanish State.

AESA has (among others) the delegated powers to carry out inspections in Rampa in the national territory, which it will carry out on its own or through its own instrumental means.

In 1996, the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) launched the ramp inspection programme with the intention of ensuring that ICAO standards were being respected.

In 2004, Directive 2004/36/EC established an obligation for all EU Member States to conduct ramp inspections of aircraft belonging to third States operating at their airports.

Currently, ramp inspections are carried out in Spain on aircraft:

a) third countries (SAFA inspections);
b) of the European Union (SACA inspections); 
c) and national (SANA inspections)

Depending on the category, number and nature of the findings detected and recorded by the inspectors during the ramp inspection, several measures may be taken.

If the findings indicate that the safety of the aircraft and its occupants is affected, corrective measures may be required by the inspected person prior to its resumption of operation or the need to establish limitations on its flight. The collaboration of the Command Commander/PiC (PIC) of the aircraft will normally be required to deal with the most serious findings and measures, but any duly accredited representative appointed by the operator (TMA, F/O, etc.) may assume such responsibility.

In general, if category 3 findings have been detected, these will generally involve the operator taking ‘corrective measures before authorising the flight’ to rectify the identified deficiencies. In other cases, where such measures cannot be taken, it may be necessary to establish operational restrictions or limitations, as discussed above, which may range from requiring the application of operational (O) or maintenance (M) procedures as contained in documents such as the Minimum Equipment List (MEL) for uncorrected defects that can be dispatched or others set out in the Operator’s Operations Manual (OM) to the application of other more restrictive measures in accordance with other documents approved by the Supervisory Authority (e.g. EASA, in the case of operators, aircraft or registrations registered in the Spanish Register of Registrations) equivalent.

In rare cases, in situations where inspectors detect a lack of cooperation or even a lack of explicit intention on the part of the Aircraft Command Commander/Pilot to take the necessary action in respect of the findings communicated to it, the inspectors shall first force the aircraft to remain on the ground, an act which will be formalised by the authority. The official act of immobilisation by the inspecting State means that the aircraft is prohibited from resuming its flights until appropriate corrective action is taken, and occurs whenever the operator intends to undertake the operation without addressing the serious deficiencies identified, contrary to the criteria of the inspectors, as provided for in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ARO.RAMP.140, in Article 30: Extraordinary measures of Law 21/2003 of 7 July 2003 on Aviation Safety, Title III: Aeronautical inspection, and Articles 33 and 43 of provisional and extraordinary measures respectively contained in Royal Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009 on Aeronautical Inspection Regulations.

In Spain, as a member of ICAO (Instrument of Ratification published in BOE No. 55 of 24 February 1947) and of the European Union (Instrument of Ratification published in BOE No 1 of 1 January 1986), the SAFA/SACA Inspections are part of the Rampa Inspection Programmes developed by ICAO from which the European Commission’s SAFA Inspection Programme was derived, after which EASA extended it to air carriers within the EU with SACA inspections.

The main regulations that apply to SANA Inspections are as follows (listed not exhaustive):

a. INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK:

(1) Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, Article 16. Aircraft inspection; and its derivative Annexes
2) Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, Chapter IV, Article 62 and its derived technical regulations, including:

I. Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Annex II, Subpart RAMP;
II.    Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014,
iii.    Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011,
iv.    Regulation (EU) No 748/2012,
v. Regulation (EU) No 923/2012,

B. NATIONAL MARCO

1) Law 21/2003 of 7 July 2003 on Aviation Safety;
(2) Law 48/1960 of 21 July on Air Navigation;
3. Royal Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009, Aeronautical Inspection Regulations; and
4) Law 39/2015 of 1 October 2015 on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.
5) Royal Decree 184/2008 of 8 February 2008 approving the Statute of the State Aviation Safety Agency
6) Technical regulations, including:

I. RD 750/2014
ii.    RD 384/2015
iii.    Technical standard of ULM.

The detail for the execution of ramp inspections is developed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in EASA’s Rampa Inspection Manual, which details inspection instructions and procedures.