M.B.905 Transfer of aircraft registration within the Union

INTRODUCTION OF TRANSFERED AIRCRAFT IN THE ACAM PROGRAMME Following the issuance or amendment of the ARC, the competent authority should consider including the aircraft in the ACAM programme for a near future inspection, following a risk-based approach. For a risk-based approach, factors such as the following may be taken into account:

(a)the type of operation;

(b)the situation of the former operator, CAMO or CAO that may affect the aircraft’s airworthiness; for example, if the organisation that manages the continuing airworthiness of the aircraft or the aircraft operator has recently declared bankruptcy;

(c)the number of different persons or organisations that have recently managed the aircraft’s continuing airworthiness;

(d)previous experience with organisations involved in the continuing airworthiness management or airworthiness review;

(e)whether the aircraft was recently issued with an airworthiness certificate after being outside the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, or following the revocation or surrender of its previous certificate;

(f)results or feedback from any bridging checks, if applicable.

COORDINATION AMONG COMPETENT AUTHORITIES The competent authority of the Member State where the aircraft is currently registered should inform the competent authority of the Member State where the aircraft will be registered about the following:

(a)whether the airworthiness certificate has been surrendered, revoked or suspended;

(b)whether there are any concerns regarding the certificate’s validity; and

(c)any other information that may be relevant for the transfer and registration process. It is recommended that the registration and de-registration processes are coordinated to avoid that the aircraft remains de-registered for an extended period. Further guidance on the risks associated with aircraft being without registration is provided in GM2 21.A.174(b)(3)(ii)(A) to Regulation (EU) No 748/2012.

AMENDMENT OF THE ARC Several practices have been adopted by competent authorities to amend ARCs, with a common one being to manually cross out the former registration and write in the new one. Although this practice is widely used, it may raise concerns regarding the validity of the certificate when reviewed by third- country entities, such as during ramp inspections. Moreover, this practice may not be suitable for electronically issued ARCs and could lead to several issues, including: — increased risk of human error, including irreversible mistakes in the certificate; — practical complications when the ARC needs to be amended multiple times due to frequent registration changes. Notwithstanding these limitations, competent authorities may continue to use this method. However, as a means of addressing the aspects described above, the following alternative approach may be considered when amending ARCs:

(a)issuing a new ARC (EASA Form 15a), completed with:

(1)information from the new competent authority;

(2)the new aircraft registration;

(3)the new ARC reference;

(4)all other information from the former ARC is copied into the new one, except for the fields labelled ‘Signed’ and ‘Authorisation No’; in the ‘Signed’ field(s), which are completed in the original ARC, the following statement should be added: ‘This ARC amends: [former ARC reference] on [date of amendment] by [signature].’ The corresponding ‘Authorisation No’, if applicable, should reflect the number of the person that makes the amendment.

(b)The new ARC should always be accompanied by the original ARC.

(c)For cases in which an aircraft undergoes multiple registration changes during the validity of its ARC, only the information in the most recent amendment is used to issue the new ARC. In such cases, the applicant must submit the original ARC along with all subsequent amendments to the new competent authority.

(d)The competent authority amending the ARC keeps a copy of both the former and the new ARC issued for traceability reasons.

(e)Subsequent extensions of the ARC are recorded in the most recent amendment.

APPROVAL OF THE AMP DURING TRANSFER Except for an AMP indirectly approved as specified in point M.A.302(c), if, during the transfer of an aircraft, there are no significant changes to the aircraft itself, to the way its continuing airworthiness will be managed or to the nature of its future operations, it is not expected that the content of the previously approved AMP will change significantly. This may be the case, for example, where the aircraft is to be transferred to another Member State, while the operator and the CAMO are to remain unchanged. In such circumstances, the competent authority of the new Member State of registry may take into account the existing AMP and choose not to conduct a full review of it. A more comprehensive verification may be deferred to a later occasion, such as during the next AMP annual review. Alternatively, the competent authority may also approve an incomplete AMP, as described in AMC M.B.301(b)(7).