EASA at AERO 2019: Making GA Safer and Cheaper
In the past years, EASA and the European GA community have relentlessly worked at making General Aviation regulation simpler, better, accessible and more straightforward. Many way points of this action plan - the EASA GA Roadmap – have been achieved and presented at AERO in the past years.
At this year’s AERO international GA fair (Friedrichshafen, Germany – April, 10-13, 2019), EASA underlined its continued commitment towards GA while embracing innovation and affordability. EASA Certification Director Rachel Daeschler and her team presented the latest successes and defined the path for the EASA GA Roadmap 2.0.
A completely new design and production process
Important achievements this year include EASA’s proposed rules for Flight Crew Licensing for balloons and sailplanes; the Basic Instrument Rating which will make it easier for GA pilots to access Instrument Flying Rules (IFR) flying; and simpler, better and cheaper rules for aircraft maintenance by means of the improved Part-M Light rules for maintenance of light aircraft.
EASA’s new Basic Regulation which was adopted last year allows for more flexibility. Therefore, EASA proposes a revolutionary approach in the way we regulate that will lead to a completely new design and production process for light aircraft with Part-21 Light. This drastically simplified airworthiness system will be developed in cooperation with our stakeholders.
EASA GA Safety Award launched
As part of its on-going commitment to General Aviation, EASA will launch the EASA GA Safety Award – a contest for awarding the most safety-beneficial smartphone/tablet application for use by GA pilots. The GA Safety Award aims to promote development of reliable tools to improve safety, encourage investment in this area, support and enhance visibility of valuable products, and further enhance the GA community’s engagement to safety.
New Approach to Safety Promotion – GA Safety Together!
EASA will further seek to improve Safety Promotion for GA - Safety Together! – by using interesting and innovative communication methods. Since last year’s AERO, EASA’s GA Community site could establish itself as a platform for discussions on safety-related and regulatory matters, while EASA’s fully in-house produced multi-language Sunny Swift cartoons have already been issued 11 times with a variety of stories promoting safety. Good Safety Promotion depends on collaboration and useful information from everybody involved. Therefore, EASA and AOPA showcase their Safety Promotion efforts at AERO and discuss how the whole General Aviation Community can get involved in Safety Together!
EASA certifies Tecnam P2012
Certification Director Rachel Daeschler also handed over the EASA Type Certificate for Tecnam’s new model, the P2012 which expands Tecnam’s aeroplane portfolio now up to a 9 passenger, twin engine aeroplane with IFR and FIKI (Flight into known icing) capabilities and the intended use for commercial air transport. EASA also issued a STC (Supplementary Type Certificate) to Garmin for their GFC500 autopilot system.
Throughout the fair, EASA’s GA team is ready to explain the novelties and alleviations in the different areas of GA Licensing, Operations, Maintenance and Initial Airworthiness, as well as give support in case of questions and discuss in a transparent and informal manner at our EASA stand in Hall A5-300 and at our various ongoing events.
