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.
Surveillance findings
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 relate to regulatory deficiencies that need immediate action
- Safety findings relate to regulatory issues that need prompt attention
- Safety observations relate to other areas where there may be regulatory issues if they are not addressed
- Aircraft safety reports relate to aircraft defects.
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.