145.B.350 Findings and corrective actions; observations

SI No. 588/2023

(a) The CAA must have a system in place to analyse findings for their safety significance.

(b) The CAA must issue a level 1 finding when any significant non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, with the organisation’s procedures or manuals, or with the organisation’s certificate including the terms of approval, which lowers safety or seriously endangers flight safety.

(c) Level 1 findings include:

1. any failure to grant the CAA access to the organisation’s facilities referred to in point 145.A.140 during normal operating hours and after two written requests;

2. obtaining the organisation certificate or maintaining its validity by falsification of the submitted documentary evidence;

3. any evidence of malpractice or fraudulent use of the organisation certificate;

4. the lack of an accountable manager.

(d) The CAA must issue a level 2 finding when any non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, with the organisation’s procedures or manuals, or with the organisation’s certificate including the terms of approval, which is not classified as a level 1 finding.

(e) Where a finding is detected during oversight or by any other means, the CAA must, without prejudice to any additional action required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, communicate the finding in writing to the organisation and request corrective action to address the noncompliance identified.

1. Where there are any level 1 findings, the CAA must take immediate and appropriate action to prohibit or limit the activities of the organisation involved and, if appropriate, it must take action to revoke the certificate or to limit or suspend it in whole or in part, depending on the extent of the level 1 finding, until successful corrective action has been taken by the organisation.

2. Where there are any level 2 findings, the CAA must:

(i) grant the organisation a corrective action implementation period appropriate to the nature of the finding which must not be more than 3 months. The period must commence from the date of the written communication referred to in point (e). The CAA may extend the corrective action implementation period referred to in point (e) provided the relevant organisation has agreed a corrective action plan with the CAA;

(ii) assess the corrective action plan and implementation plan proposed by the organisation and accept them if they are sufficient to address the non-compliance.

3. If the organisation fails to submit an acceptable corrective action plan, or fails to perform the corrective action within the time period accepted or extended by the CAA, the CAA must raise the finding to level 1 and action must be taken as laid down in point (e)(1).

4. The CAA must record all the findings that it has raised or that have been communicated to it and, where applicable, the enforcement measures it has applied, as well as all corrective actions and the dates of the action closures for all the findings.

(f) The CAA may issue observations for any of the following cases not requiring level 1 or level 2 findings:

1. for any item whose performance has been assessed to be ineffective;

2. when it has been identified that an item has the potential to cause a non-compliance under point (b) or (d);

3. when suggestions or improvements are of interest for the overall safety performance of the organisation.

(g) The CAA must communicate the observations issued under this point in writing to the organisation and must keep a record of those observations.