We conduct surveillance to make sure individuals and organisations that hold aviation authorisations are managing their safety risks and complying with the relevant regulations.
We do this by:
- checking their systems and products
- looking at their documents and manuals
- examining other available data and intelligence.
We also conduct unscheduled surveillance when an authorisation holder comes to our attention through:
- credible reports about alleged unsafe behaviour
- information provided by other aviation agencies.
We also carry out aircraft ramp checks on an aircraft at any time.
Sharing our findings
When we have completed our surveillance activities, we meet with the authorisation holder and talk to them about the results. After that meeting, we write our formal surveillance report and give it to the authorisation holder, along with any specific findings.
Surveillance findings
Following a surveillance activity, where we discover areas that need action, we issue what we call 'surveillance findings.' These are issued directly to the operator.
We classify these findings in a way that encourages a collaborative approach to safety:
- Safety alerts: relates to regulatory deficiencies that need immediate action
- Safety findings: relates to regulatory issues that need prompt attention
- Safety observations: relates to other areas where there may be regulatory issues if they are not addressed
- Aircraft safety reports: relates to aircraft defects.
We may take enforcement action when we find that an authorisation holder has significantly breached a legislative requirement. The action we take will depend on the nature and severity of the breach. Learn more on our Enforcement actions page.