EASA to FAA transition
EASA to FAA export airworthiness documentation transition review
This review checks the export airworthiness package assembled on the EASA side against what an FAA import will actually ask for. It is run for the importing party, or the seller preparing to hand over, before the aircraft leaves the exporting register. The work reads the export certificate of airworthiness, the special conditions the FAA attaches to the import, the status summaries the certificate rests on, and the underlying records those summaries cite. You receive an evidence map tied to the import requirements, a gap list, and a request set for the documents that the export package assumes but does not contain.
When this review is needed
- An aircraft is leaving an EASA register for the US register and the export package has to satisfy FAA import.
- The FAA has attached special conditions to the import and the records behind them must be assembled before arrival.
- A buyer wants the export documentation read before it relies on the exporting authority's certificate.
- The export certificate has already been issued and the importer needs to know what it does and does not cover.
The problem
An export certificate of airworthiness is a statement, not a complete file. The exporting authority issues it against a set of assumptions and any special conditions the importing authority raised, but the records that substantiate those assumptions stay in the aircraft file and often are not gathered in one place. On the FAA side, the import turns on whether those special conditions are satisfied by evidence, and a certificate that reads clean can still sit on records that were never pulled together to prove it.
What gets reviewed
- The export certificate of airworthiness and the statements it makes about the aircraft
- FAA special conditions on the import and the evidence each one requires
- Status summaries the certificate rests on, checked back to their source records
- Any exemptions or deviations noted on the export and how the FAA treats them
- The chain from the exporting authority's finding to the records that support it
- Open items the export leaves for the importer to close after arrival
Scope this review
Tell us the asset, the event, and the evidence in scope, and we will outline a focused first engagement.
Send a representative, redacted record set and we will scope the review.
What gets validated
- Each FAA special condition maps to a specific record that satisfies it
- Status summaries cited on the export certificate reconcile to the underlying records
- Deviations or exemptions on the export are identified and their FAA treatment stated
- The export certificate's effective scope matches the configuration being transferred
- Items the export leaves open are listed so nothing is assumed closed that is not
Evidence normally required
- The export certificate of airworthiness and its attachments
- The FAA import special conditions or equivalent import correspondence
- The status summaries the export certificate references
- The airworthiness records those summaries draw from
- Any exemption, deviation, or open-item notes attached to the export
Common discrepancies
- A special condition on the import that no document in the package actually addresses
- A status summary on the certificate that does not reconcile to the source records
- A deviation noted on the export that the importer would have to close after arrival
- An export scope that no longer matches the configuration presented for transfer
What is at stake
An export package that is short on the underlying evidence leaves the aircraft on the ground while the importer reconstructs what the certificate assumed. Special conditions that are unaddressed at arrival become the importer's problem to close, sometimes with the exporting side no longer engaged, and an import that stalls on a missing status summary costs far more than confirming the package before the aircraft moves.
How the work runs
Read the export scope
Establish what the export certificate states and the configuration it was issued against.
Break out the special conditions
List each FAA import condition and the evidence it requires to close.
Reconcile summaries to source
Trace the status summaries on the certificate back to the records behind them.
List open items
Flag conditions and deviations the importer must close and request the missing documents.
What the buyer receives
- An evidence map linking each import requirement to its supporting record
- A gap list of import conditions the package does not yet satisfy
- A document request set for the records the export assumes but omits
Who uses the output
- Acquisition teams deciding whether the export package is ready to rely on
- Continuing-airworthiness staff planning what must close before or just after import
- Records teams assembling the evidence the FAA import will demand
How the work fits into the transaction or program
The review sits between the export certificate and the FAA import, so the importer knows what the certificate covers and what it leaves open before the aircraft arrives. Its gap list drives the pre-arrival document chase, and its evidence map becomes the file the importer presents against the import conditions.
Start with a single asset
Confirm the status list matches the underlying evidence.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
The exporting EASA authority certifies against its own findings, while the FAA import turns on its special conditions and its own recordkeeping expectations. The review flags where an EASA finding is accepted as stated and where the FAA will want the underlying records rebuilt into a form its process recognizes.
Regulatory limits
The review assesses the export package against the import requirements and reports the gaps. It does not issue or endorse an export certificate, satisfy a special condition on any authority's behalf, or make an airworthiness determination. Import acceptance rests with the FAA.
What this review does not cover
- Issuing, amending, or endorsing an export certificate of airworthiness
- Physical inspection or survey of the aircraft for export
- Any import acceptance or airworthiness decision by the receiving authority
Specific to this review
- An export certificate reflects the exporting authority's findings, but the FAA import stands on the special conditions and the evidence behind them, which the certificate does not carry.
- Special conditions are the usual failure point: the certificate is clean while one condition has no supporting document in the package.
- Once the aircraft has left the exporting register, the outgoing side often disengages, so open items are far cheaper to close before departure than after.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Export airworthiness approval requirements and special requirements of an importing authority.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Records an owner or operator must keep, including total time in service, current status of life-limited parts, and AD compliance.
European Union / EASA. EASA design and production certification, STCs, ETSO authorizations, and EASA Form 1 release.
International Civil Aviation Organization. International standards for the airworthiness of aircraft and the framework states use for type and continuing airworthiness.
Frequently asked questions
Does a clean export certificate mean the import will go smoothly?
Not on its own. The FAA import turns on whether its special conditions are satisfied by evidence in the file. A certificate can be issued correctly while the package still lacks a document one of those conditions needs, which is exactly what the review surfaces.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
Talk to an engineer who has done this work
We will walk through your current state, the records or evidence involved, and a scoped first engagement.
Talk through the aircraft, records, evidence, deadline, and next useful step.