Export package prep
Equipment-list and configuration records review for export
This review reconciles the aircraft equipment list against the records that prove each installed item is approved and released. It is run by or for the exporting party while the export package is being assembled. It covers the equipment list itself, installation records, release certificates for installed units, and the modification approvals behind non-standard fit. You receive an evidence map from each listed item to its supporting document, a list of items whose installation or approval cannot be shown, and a request set for the paperwork the package still needs.
When this review is needed
- An export package is being built and the equipment list has to match the records behind it.
- Non-standard equipment was fitted under an STC and the approval basis must travel with the aircraft.
- The importing authority will compare the equipment list against the type design for the new register.
- Installation or release paperwork for an installed unit has not been located in the file.
The problem
An equipment list is a clean roster that hides how much history sits behind each line. Every installed unit needs an installation record, a release certificate, and, where the fit is non-standard, a modification approval. An operator can carry a unit for years on an accurate list while the release paperwork that justified its installation was never filed. Export is where that shows, because the receiving side reads the list against the records, not against the aircraft.
What gets reviewed
- The equipment list reconciled against installation records for each item
- Release certificates present for installed units that require them
- Modification approvals behind non-standard or STC-fitted equipment
- Configuration entries checked against the type design for the receiving register
- Items on the list that cannot be tied to an installation or approval flagged
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 listed item traces to an installation record and, where required, a release certificate
- Non-standard equipment carries the STC or modification approval that authorized the fit
- Part and serial numbers on the list match the installation and release paperwork
- The equipment list reconciles with the configuration the type design supports
- No unit appears on the list without an approval basis for its presence
Evidence normally required
- The current aircraft equipment list
- Installation records for the listed items
- Release certificates for installed units
- Modification and STC approvals for non-standard equipment
Common discrepancies
- A listed unit with no installation record on file
- Non-standard equipment fitted without the modification approval in the package
- A serial number on the list that does not match the release certificate
- A configuration entry that the type design for the receiving register does not support
What is at stake
An item on the list with no traceable installation or approval forces a choice at the worst time: recover the paperwork, remove the unit, or re-substantiate the fit under the receiving authority's rules. A non-standard modification without its approval basis can require the receiving side to re-approve the change before the aircraft enters its register, which delays the export and adds engineering cost the exporter did not price.
How the work runs
Reconcile the list
Match each equipment-list item to its installation record and release certificate.
Check the non-standard fit
Confirm STC and modification approvals for equipment outside the standard configuration.
Compare to type design
Read the list against the type design the receiving register recognizes.
Flag and request
List items with no traceable basis and the paperwork needed to close them.
What the buyer receives
- An evidence map from each equipment-list item to its installation and approval records
- A list of items whose installation or approval basis cannot be shown
- A document request set for the release and modification paperwork to recover
Who uses the output
- Export package assemblers confirming every listed item is backed before filing
- Engineering deciding how to treat a non-standard fit with no traceable approval
- Asset managers weighing whether re-approval of a modification affects the export timeline
How the work fits into the transaction or program
This review runs while the package is being assembled, so an unsupported item is found before the equipment list is submitted. Its findings feed the paperwork recovery and, where a fit cannot be substantiated, the engineering decision on whether to remove the unit before the aircraft changes register.
Start with a single asset
Confirm the status list matches the underlying evidence.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
A modification approved under one authority's STC is not automatically accepted on the receiving register, and the importing authority may require its own validation of a non-standard fit. The review flags installed equipment whose approval basis will need receiving-side acceptance before the aircraft can enter service.
Regulatory limits
This review reconciles the equipment list against its records. It does not approve a modification, validate an STC on the receiving register, or make an airworthiness determination on the installed configuration. Acceptance of a non-standard fit rests with the importing authority.
What this review does not cover
- A physical configuration survey of the installed equipment
- Developing or validating modification data for the receiving register
- Any airworthiness determination on the fitted configuration
Specific to this review
- The equipment list is a roster, not evidence, so a clean list can sit over installation paperwork that was never filed.
- Non-standard fit is where export equipment reviews break, because the modification approval rarely travels with the list by default.
- An STC accepted by the exporting authority may need separate validation before the receiving register accepts the same fit.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Maintenance recordkeeping content and approval-for-return-to-service requirements, including 43.9, 43.11, and Appendix B.
Federal Aviation Administration. Completion and use of FAA Form 8130-3, Authorized Release Certificate, for new and used parts.
European Union / EASA. Continuing airworthiness, maintenance records, CAMO responsibilities, and the airworthiness review process in the EASA system.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Export airworthiness approval requirements and special requirements of an importing authority.
European Union / EASA. EASA design and production certification, STCs, ETSO authorizations, and EASA Form 1 release.
Frequently asked questions
Does an item on the equipment list need paperwork if the aircraft has flown with it for years?
Time in service does not substitute for the installation and approval records. The receiving authority reads the list against those records, so an item carried for years still needs its installation evidence and, if non-standard, its modification approval in the package.
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.