Frequently asked questions

All management is done telematically through the EASA database. The operator or owner of the aircraft must be registered in the system and contact persons will be established who will receive the notifications in their email to access the management of their files, as explained and reflected in question 19.

The operator/individual is obliged to cooperate and facilitate the inspection tasks, and in particular for the Rampa Inspectorate, in accordance with the European regulations laid down in Article ORO.GEN.140 of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.

Therefore, in general, the inspection may not be refused except in exceptional circumstances or for reasons which are sufficiently justified and justified by the inspected person and which the inspectors consider and consider as such.

In the absence of such causes, this shall be deemed to be an obstruction of the inspection work, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, ORO.GEN.140, Regulation (EU) No 452/2014, as developed in EASA’s Rampa Inspection Manual (RIM), Chapter 5, in the SAFA/SACA Inspections cases, with the corresponding consequences for the inspected person.

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.

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 all cases, the staff shall be duly accredited (inspector’s card or other identification document) and shall carry their order of action in accordance with Article 11 of Royal Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009 approving the Aeronautical Inspection Regulation.

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.

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 Decree 98/2009 of 6 February 2009 approving the Aeronautical Inspection Regulation). In addition to this mandatory training, as part of the ramp inspector profile, staff are required to have prior experience in the sector, which, in the case of Spanish inspectors, is multidisciplinary and varied among inspectors with different professional profiles such as: TMas, Pilots, Engineers, Air Operations Technicians, etc.

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.

No, notice is never made and this is not required. By the very definition and nature of the Rampa Inspectorate, which consists of a: ‘on-site inspection, not notified in advance, carried out on an aircraft in the movement area (usually at a platform or aerodrome) of an airport or aerodrome, during the course of its normal operation between flights and without interfering as far as possible with it’, this inspection is never notified in advance, since one of its objectives is to check the operation of the aircraft under normal conditions, so that notice to the operator could lead to possible preparation of the aircraft in the expectation of the inspection, which would alter the purpose of the inspection.

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. Scope of the Aeronautical Inspection Regulation (RIA), Royal Decree 98/2009.

The difference between one type or another of ramp inspection lies in the type of regulation that applies to the inspection. Therefore, in the case of aircraft of an operator or private individual registered in the Spanish Register of Registration or not registered but carrying out a commercial activity, an SANA inspection is carried out with its applicable regulations (see question 2). For aircraft of non-EU operators or individuals, i.e. third countries outside the EU, it will be an SAFA inspection and for aircraft belonging to Community operators/particulars with non-Spanish registration will be an SACA inspection. In the case of SANA inspections, you can consult the applicable regulations in the corresponding FAQ.