Frequently asked questions

How do the Inspectors at Rampa identify?

     

    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. ID card, etc.) are not required by the inspector, but they may be shown as courtesy at the request of the inspected person.

How are inspections carried out in Rampa?

    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

    The checks carried out in each of these categories include (without being an exhaustive list) the documentation of the aircraft which the operator is required to carry on board in accordance with the applicable regulations, the procedures, technical manuals and release documentation that are kept in the cockpit and which the flight crew and cabin crew are required to comply with, pilot licences, security equipment in the cockpit and cabin, the general condition of the hold, the cargo being carried on the aircraft and its associated documentation and the general external condition of the aircraft.

    As the time between arrival and departure (stop time) may not be enough to review the complete checklist, all 53 points may not be inspected. The policy of the Rampa Inspection Program is not to interfere with the operator’s normal operation by avoiding delays except for safety reasons, as set out in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ARO.RAMP.125, as well as to avoid, as far as possible, contact with the existing passage.

What is the number of inspections carried out in Spain and their relation to the total carried out in Europe?

    Although the targets are regularly reviewed, approximately 1200 inspections of foreign aircraft and about 450 inspections of domestic aircraft have been carried out at present and in normal situations, although the number of inspections may vary greatly and depends on the resources the authority may devote to such inspection.

Which airports/airfields are inspected in Rampa?

    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 aforementioned Law. Similarly, Article 25 of that law, as well as Article 3 of Royal Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009, approving the Aeronautical Inspection Regulation, also empowers and authorises free access to the said facilities for staff of public bodies who are their own instrumental resources or technical service of the AGE who are responsible for carrying out their own material actions.

    Exclusively military aerodromes are excluded, as set out in Article 2 of Law 21/2003 of 7 July 2003 on Aviation Safety.

Is a reservation of more than 24 hours, e.g. 36 hours, acceptable?

    According to the regulatory point ORO.FTL.230:

    Yes, it is acceptable, provided there are sufficient non-contactable periods of 8 hours to allow rest. For example, a 36-hour reservation that includes two nights would require two non-contactable periods, assuming that the crew member’s sleep pattern is the usual (night).

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Is it mandatory to schedule a break before a reservation? What is the minimum rest time before a flight duty carried out on a booking?

    In accordance with the regulatory point ORO.FTL.230; ORO.FTL.235:

    Before a FDP period, you must always give the required rest in ORO.FTL.235 (12 hours on base, 10 hours off base or the previous activity if higher). Therefore, if there is no such rest before the reservation, this rest must be guaranteed between the notification of the activity and the report. NOTE: The above reply corresponds to an assigned FDP during the first day of booking. If it is an assigned FDP during a booking day preceded by a booking day on which no activity assignment has occurred, the 10-hour notification of the reservation would be sufficient.

Are companies obliged to issue a certificate of hours if the worker so requests?

    Yes, according to regulatory point ORO.FTL.245 (b):
    ‘On request, the operator shall provide copies of individual records of flight times, duty periods and rest periods:

    1. the crew member concerned, and (
    2. another operator, in respect of a crew member who is or becomes a crew member of the operator concerned.’

    However, paragraph (a) of the same point provides that the mandatory period for the operator to keep individual records for each crew member is 24 months.

Are these inspections random or are there any programs that run it?

    SAFA & SACA ramp inspections are part of the European Community Security Programme and are mandatory for all Member States to comply with this inspection programme, as indicated in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ARO.GEN.305 and ARO.RAMP.100 with regard to the establishment of an Annual Inspection Programme, as further developed in the EASA Rampa Inspection Manual (RIM), Chapter 4.

    These inspections follow a common procedure and their results are transferred to a database managed by EASA, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ARO.RAMP.145 Reports.

    The physical processing of the files based on the above criteria is implemented through a centralised file management system in the EASA Database whose processing of data and information will be governed by the aforementioned regulations and in Organic Law 15/1999, of 13 December, on the Protection of Personal Data.

Is there any regulation of uptime and rest times for ground personnel accompanying aircraft?

    The rules on flight time limitations and rest periods, as set out in Subpart ORO.FTL, apply to flight and cabin crew members. In addition, in cases of carriage of cargo in the passenger cabin, it is also required to be applied to cargo surveillance personnel in flight.

    However, there is no specific similar legislation applicable to land workers, the labour regulations and collective agreements being applicable.

Are there FTL requirements for cargo-monitoring crew in addition to flight time limitations?

    The crew responsible for supervising the cargo shall be considered cabin crew and shall therefore respect and follow flight time limitations as they act as responsible for monitoring the cargo status and reacting in case of an emergency.