Airworthiness Regulations and Documentation
Airworthiness Regulations and Documentation tests the legal chain from type design to continued operation. Expect questions on certificates, modifications, directives and records.
Certification and continued airworthiness
ICAO Annex 8 sets minimum standards; states implement them through codes such as EASA Part-21/Part-M and FAA FAR 21/43. A type certificate approves the design; a supplemental type certificate approves a major change. An AD is mandatory and may require inspection, modification or an operating limitation. An SB is manufacturer advice unless referenced by an AD or contract.
Documents and release
The certificate of airworthiness depends on continuing compliance with the type design and maintenance programme. The airworthiness review certificate is validity evidence in some systems; a maintenance release is issued after maintenance. Mass and balance, MEL and CDL control dispatch. Records must be retained and traceable.
Worked example
An AD requires compliance within 100 flight hours. The aircraft has 90 FH since the last compliance check, and the next scheduled check is at 120 FH - 30 FH away. The AD limit will be exceeded before that check, so the task must be brought forward to or before 100 FH; planning it at the next check is non-compliant.
Traps
Treating an SB as automatically mandatory; confusing an ARC with a certificate of airworthiness; using the MEL to defer an AD; and assuming a zero-time component is automatically airworthy without a release document.