Airworthiness, Maintenance and Continuing Airworthiness
This domain tests Annex 8 and the Indian airworthiness system in CAR Section 2: how an aircraft is certified, how it stays airworthy, and who is allowed to sign for it. Questions tend to hinge on the chain of responsibility rather than on engineering detail.
Core structure
- Type certification establishes the design standard (CAR 21). Individual aircraft receive a Certificate of Airworthiness once they conform to the approved type design and are maintained per an approved programme.
- Continuing airworthiness is managed by an approved Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAR M) and maintenance is performed by an Approved Maintenance Organisation (CAR 145).
- The aircraft maintenance programme is approved by DGCA; the Minimum Equipment List defines dispatch with inoperative items; Airworthiness Directives are mandatory, Service Bulletins are not unless mandated.
- An Airworthiness Review Certificate is issued following review of the aircraft's records and a physical survey, and maintains the C of A's validity between renewals. Every maintenance release is certified by authorised personnel with the correct scope.
Worked example
An aircraft arrives at the line with an Airworthiness Directive due and a Category A MEL item open. The crew must not be dispatched: the directive is mandatory and embodies a continuing airworthiness requirement that no MEL relief can waive, so no valid Certificate of Release to Service can be issued until it is accomplished. The MEL item itself, being Category A, needs a defined rectification interval stated in the MEL.
Traps that cost marks
Believing a C of A is a permanent document independent of maintenance. Confusing an ARC with a C of A renewal. Treating an MEL as permission to fly with any defect. Assuming an organisation can certify work outside the scope of its approval. Forgetting that mandatory modifications and directives override commercial pressure - and that the pilot's acceptance does not legalise an unairworthy aircraft.