28 July 2015
A new Minimum Inspection Programme (MIP) has been introduced by EASA to standardise maintenance programmes. This is an amendment to the Part M regulation and will apply to ELA1 aircraft (ie, Maximum Take-off Mass (MTOM) of 1200kg or less and not involved in commercial operations).
Owners can now choose from a number of different aircraft maintenance programmes (AMP), says the CAA which announced the news today. The new regulation introduces two new options to the existing Part M requirements, one of which is the MIP, the other is based on manufacturer’s recommendations.
Who this affects:
Initially owners of ELA1 aircraft, Part 145 organisations, Part M Subpart G CAMOs and Part M Subpart F maintenance organisations and licensed engineers.
The main changes:
Owners can self-declare their aircraft maintenance programme
Annual inspection and issue of the Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) can be done at the same time by the same licensed engineer.
Part 145 and Subpart F organisations have additional new privileges
Timelines:
For ELA1 aircraft, the changes came into effect on the 27 July 2015. A template for the new AMP options described above will be available at www.caa.co.uk/ga from Wednesday 29 July 2015. This may be revised by EASA in September when it is also due to publish acceptable means of compliance and guidance material. Information in the EASA comment response document can be found at CRD 2012-17 (pages 202 to 277).
The introduction of the MIP precedes the new Part M Light regulations that are expected to be adopted in summer 2016. Aircraft owners will then be able to choose either Part M or Part M Light and the MIP will then extend to aircraft between ELA1 (1200kg) and ELA2 (2000kg).
The CAA says it will issue further updates in September 2015 on the changes relating to MIP.
