Daily Memo: For Many U.S. MRO Shops, Safety Management Systems Are No Longer Optional

A bureaucratic-sounding record of decision by a little-known oversight board recently codified a significant change for U.S.-based repair stations certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The change, to Annex 2—the maintenance section—of the U.S.-European Union Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA), mandates that all U.S.-based shops with EASA approval “establish, implement, and maintain” a safety management system (SMS).
The amendment, which adds the SMS special condition to Annex 2, was formally adopted by the BASA’s bilateral oversight board in early February. While it may sound daunting, the SMS mandate for affected U.S. shops is not overly burdensome. Nor should it come as a surprise.

The FAA, following in the footsteps of its global peers, has been on a bit of an SMS kick in recent years. Mandates have been issued for commercial airlines (large ones and charters), manufacturers, and large airports. FAA's internal Air Traffic Organization has one as well.

But repair stations certified under Part 145 have not been hit with an SMS mandate, despite lobbying by influential organizations such as the NTSB. EASA, however, requires them—and wants foreign shops it approves to have them, too. But an outright mandate for shops in countries that do not face a similar requirement from their domestic regulator would be a tall and politically thorny order. The compromise: EASA will recognize U.S. shops that participate in FAA’s long-running voluntary SMS program as compliant. Notably the BASA amendment does not specify compliance with EASA’s SMS rules, but rather simply ICAO’s standards and recommended practices. ICAO’s SMS standards for maintenance organizations are in Annex 19, adopted in 2013.

“This is what we are targeting, that organizations are ICAO compliant,” EASA U.S. Representative Ludovic Aron told Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) annual symposium attendees. “We are not targeting compliance to [EASA] regulations. That’s not our goal.”

The compliance process is straightforward. Repair stations simply verify that they have the necessary elements of an SMS—the vast majority of which are required by the FAA regulations—and submit a statement to the FAA saying they comply with the FAA’s Part 5 SMS regulations. From there, the shop’s principal maintenance inspector adds SMS elements to its routine surveillance.

“There’s a conception that it will be submitted to the agency for full SMS compliance, and we will somehow approve that SMS program,” FAA Aviation Maintenance Division Manager Jackie Black told ARSA attendees. “That’s a misnomer. It’s a submission of a statement that they comply with the requirements of a Part 5 SMS. It’s entered into our surveillance oversight program and then we assure compliance through surveillance in the coming years. It does not wait for an approval by the agency, [and] it doesn’t require even an active acceptance stamp.”

The deadline for U.S. shops to comply with Annex 2 is Dec. 31. As of late March, 53 shops were part of the FAA voluntary program, meaning they comply with EASA’s regulations. EASA data shows there are about 1,400 repair stations in the U.S. with valid EASA certifications.

Hundreds more have expired or suspended approvals. Still more are in the process of applying. For shops in these categories, the SMS compliance deadline aligns with when they become approved, even if it’s before the end of the year.

FAA is working on inspector guidance that would aid in ongoing oversight of organizations with statements of compliance. An update of the BASA’s Maintenance Annex Guidance is also imminent. Completion of both has been slowed as part of the customary regulatory review that is part of every incoming U.S. presidential administration.

Shops that have not pulled together their SMS plan can turn to alphabet groups for help. ARSA and the Aircraft Electronics Association have teamed up to offer access to a set of AEA-developed tools designed to walk small- and medium-sized organizations through the requirements for establishing an ICAO-compliant SMS.