As the EU Ramp Inspection Programme marks its 20th anniversary this year, there are pilots in business aviation who have yet to encounter the EASA-administered program, instituted by the European Civil Aviation Conference, and many go their entire careers without ever experiencing one. Intended as a means of ensuring the safe condition of aircraft operating in the member states, the standardized inspections—triggered by data analyzed through a central database by EASA identifying an aircraft as suspicious—can also be performed as random spot checks.

The program has two parts: SAFA ramp inspections derived from ICAO international standards for non-member country operators, and SACA inspections based on EU standards. In both cases, manufacturer’s standards are considered for evaluating the technical condition of the aircraft. What inspectors are looking for is hardly a secret, as SAFA ramp checklists are readily available on the Internet from organizations such as the Flight Service Bureau, an airline cooperative that shares non-competitive information. “It’s really safety related in the sense of how they look at the airplane, and if they find something they get you to fix it,” said Mark Zee, a flight operations specialist with the group. “If they really don’t like what they see, then something along the lines of a ban might take place.”

The 53-item checklist covers crew and aircraft documentation as well as the presence of and condition of various pieces of safety equipment. Typically one inspector will examine the interior of the aircraft and interview the crew, while another will inspect the exterior.

The program has a distinctively commercial aviation focus, with 7,000 commercial aircraft inspections conducted so far this year between the SACA and SAFA programs by the 47 participating states (including non-European nations such as Canada, Israel, Morocco, Singapore, Turkey and the UAE). Four hundred inspections of private and charter aircraft were conducted. “What [regulators] have said unofficially is that if you are a private operator, they are far less interested in what you are doing,” explained Zee. “What they are really after is a situation where 200 people, or even 20 people on a Gulfstream, have been sold a ticket or are paying for a service and the aircraft that they are on is unsafe.”

​Caution Ahead

Despite the low numbers of inspections performed on private aircraft, the topic nonetheless remains a concern, according to those in the flight-planning industry. “It comes up in all our conversations because [clients] just want to make sure they are compliant,” said Mark Miller, Universal Weather and Aviation’s senior manager of technical planning. “They are concerned about being compliant because you never know when you are going to be inspected or where.”

But that level of anxiety might not be warranted, especially for N-registered private aircraft pilots and operators, as inspectors in most cases know specifically which aircraft they are looking for, through profiling.

At the beginning of June, the EASA published new guidelines in ARO.ramp.100(b) specifying which categories of aircraft would receive extra scrutiny. “There are a lot of countries that provide registries for tax purposes, and they typically don’t have the inspectors for the country to go over the aircraft and all of the certifications for the aircraft to a degree acceptable by inspectors, so those aircraft might be targeted more than an aircraft registered in the U.S. or France or other European country,” said Miller.

“We’re not really talking about the states or countries that have comfortable maintenance programs,” added Zee. “We’re talking about Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and these guys sending in aircraft that are ‘dodgy,’ for want of a better word. That’s what they are looking at.” Of course, with the centralized database, aircraft that have been previously flagged will continue to raise flags among inspectors, Zee noted. “They are trying to say that if we get a report that your maintenance is shoddy, or you’ve been doing strange things, we’re going to have a look at you.”

For any operator who travels to Europe infrequently, the possibility of a random spot check, while remote, does exist, and Zee recommends becoming familiar with the checklist and up to date on what questions are being asked. “First they will ask you for your pilot certificate, medical, logbook, insurance and registration,” he told AIN. “Let them have a look at it, let them have their couple of questions, answer them and give them a cup of tea if you want or something from the galley.” A typical inspection should last half an hour, barring any drastic findings.

The inspectors are not there to assess the ability of the crew and have strict guidance as to what they are entitled to ask about, yet Zee added, there will always be departures from standard procedure. One popular “gotcha” posed to pilots prescribed with corrective lenses on their medical certificate is to ask to see a spare set of glasses.

​Results and Consequences

Given the comprehensive nature of the checklist, inspectors are bound to identify one or more findings, which range from Category 1 (minor) to Category 3 (major) depending on their level of influence on safety. The captain of the aircraft will be debriefed regarding the findings, and Category 2 and 3 violations will be forwarded to the appropriate aviation authority as well as the operator’s home base. In some cases an aircraft will be allowed take off under operational restrictions such as in the case of a broken passenger seat, but if there is a “corrective action before flight authorized finding,” a repair must be made before the aircraft is permitted to depart. In situations where the inspectors believe the captain does not intend to take action on the deficiencies, they will formally ground the aircraft.

While there is little a crew can do once they see the inspectors approaching the aircraft, Zee suggests they quickly review their flight plan, making sure it is in order, including fuel checks updated during the flight with correct calculations, along with weather updates.

Other than that, he said, crews should just remain calm. “I think the overriding message is that a lot of pilots are concerned about being ramp checked in Europe, and the bottom line is you don’t have much to worry about,” advised Zee. “Pilots wind themselves up and it’s a real stressor because they are not sure what to expect. My advice would be answer the questions they give you, be polite and friendly and you are fine.”