21.B.125 Findings and corrective actions; observations

(a)     The competent authority shall have a system in place to analyse findings for their safety significance.

(b)     A level 1 finding shall be issued by the competent authority when any significant non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and its delegated and implementing acts, with the organisation’s procedures and manuals, or with the terms of the letter of agreement which lowers safety or seriously endangers flight safety.

Level 1 findings shall also include:

1.       any failure to grant the competent authority access to the organisation’s facilities referred to in point 21.A.9 during normal operating hours and after two written requests;

2.       obtaining the letter of agreement or maintaining its validity by falsification of the submitted documentary evidence; and

3.       any evidence of malpractice or fraudulent use of the letter of agreement.

(c)      A level 2 finding shall be issued by the competent authority when any non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and its delegated and implementing acts, with the organisation’s procedures and manuals, or with the terms of the letter of agreement, which is not classified as a level 1 finding.

(d)     When a finding is detected during oversight or by any other means, the competent authority shall, without prejudice to any additional action required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and its delegated and implementing acts, communicate in writing the finding to the organisation and request corrective action to address the non-compliance(s) identified. Where a level 1 finding directly relates to an aircraft, the competent authority shall inform the competent authority of the Member State in which the aircraft is registered.

1.       If there are any level 1 findings, the competent authority shall take immediate and appropriate action to prohibit or limit the activities of the organisation involved and, if appropriate, it shall take action to revoke the letter of agreement or to limit or suspend it in whole or in part, depending on the extent of the level 1 finding, until successful corrective action has been taken by the organisation.

2.       If there are any level 2 findings, the competent authority shall:

(i)      grant the organisation a corrective action implementation period that is appropriate to the nature of the finding, and that in any case shall initially not be more than 3 months. The period shall commence from the date of the written communication of the finding to the organisation, requesting corrective action to address the non-compliance identified. At the end of that period, and subject to the nature of the finding, the competent authority may extend the 3‑month period provided that a corrective action plan has been agreed with the competent authority;

(ii)     assess the corrective action plan and implementation plan proposed by the organisation, and if the assessment concludes that they are sufficient to address the non-compliance, accept them;

(iii)     if the organisation fails to submit an acceptable corrective action plan, or fails to perform the corrective action within the time period accepted or extended by the competent authority, the finding shall be raised to level 1 and action shall be taken as laid down in point (f)(1)(i).

(e)     The competent authority may issue observations for any of the following cases not requiring level 1 or level 2 findings:

1.       for any item whose performance has been assessed to be ineffective;

2.       when it has been identified that an item has the potential to cause a non-compliance under points (b) or (c);

3.       when suggestions or improvements are of interest for the overall safety performance of the organisation.

The observations issued under this point shall be communicated in writing to the organisation and recorded by the competent authority.