26.303 Limit of Validity

SI No. 1203/2021

(a) A holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC, for a turbine-powered large aeroplane certified on or after 1 January 1958, for which the application for TC was submitted before 1 January 2019, certified with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lbs), shall:

(i) establish a limit of validity (LOV) and include that LOV in an amended ALS;

(ii) identify existing and new maintenance actions upon which the LOV depends, and develop service information necessary for operators to implement those maintenance actions and submit the service information for the maintenance actions to the CAA in accordance with a binding schedule agreed with the CAA.

The aeroplane structural configurations to be evaluated for the purpose of establishing the LOV shall include all model variations and derivatives approved under the TC before 26 February 2021 and all structural changes and replacements to the structural configurations of those aeroplanes that are required by an airworthiness directive issued before 26 February 2021. By way of derogation from point (a)(ii), a holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC for a turbine-powered large aeroplane shall not be required to develop and submit to the CAA the service information for a maintenance action applicable to an aeroplane model which will no longer be operated after the scheduled point of submittal for the service information of that maintenance action. For this exception to take effect, the holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC shall inform the CAA not later than the date at which the aeroplane model ceases operation.

(b) The holder of the type-certificate (TC) or the restricted TC shall submit the LOV established in accordance with point (a) and the amendment to the ALS referred to in that point together with the binding schedule to the CAA for approval, before the deadlines established in points (i) to (iii):

(i) 26 August 2023 for fatigue critical structure with a certification basis that does not include a damage tolerance evaluation;

(ii) 26 February 2027 for aeroplane structure subject to ongoing full-scale fatigue testing at the date of the applicability of this amending Regulation;

(iii) 26 February 2026 for all other aeroplane structures.

(c) An applicant for a TC or restricted TC as referred in Article 1 paragraph 2(c), for a turbine-powered large aeroplane with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lbs), shall:

(i) establish a limit of validity (LOV) and include that LOV in the ALS;

(d) The applicant for a TC or restricted TC as referred in Article 1 paragraph 2(c) shall submit the LOV established in accordance with point (c) above and the ALS referred to in that point together with the binding schedule to the CAA, for approval.

(e) The following deadlines shall apply to the obligations referred to in point (d):

(i) before the date approved by the CAA in the plan of the applicant for completing tests and analyses of any aeroplane structure requiring new full-scale fatigue testing to support establishment of the LOV;

(ii) before 26 February 2026 for all other aeroplane structures.