Import acceptance
Modification and STC status review for import acceptance
This review confirms that an aircraft's modification and STC position will translate cleanly onto a new register. It is run for the importing party once the receiving authority is known, ahead of the acceptance handover. It checks Service Bulletin embodiment, the approval basis behind each STC, and whether the recorded configuration matches what the incoming authority will accept and record. You get a modification status report tied to the acceptance questions, a list of changes whose basis needs a validation or acceptance path, and a document request set for the approvals that are missing.
When this review is needed
- An aircraft carries STCs approved under one authority and is importing onto another's register.
- Service Bulletin embodiment has to be shown with the correct revision and effectivity for the new authority.
- The receiving authority requires a validated basis for a modification the aircraft already carries.
- Configuration has drifted across operators and the modification file no longer matches the airframe.
The problem
An STC that is valid on the departing register does not carry an automatic entitlement on the receiving one. The importing team has to show the receiving authority either a validated STC or an acceptance path for every non-basic modification, and the approval files are often the least maintained part of the record set. Effectivity errors compound the problem: a Service Bulletin recorded against the wrong revision or serial reads as a configuration the aircraft does not actually have.
What gets reviewed
- Embodied STCs matched to a validation or bilateral acceptance path for the receiving authority
- Service Bulletin embodiment recorded with the correct revision and effectivity
- The approval basis and substantiation behind each non-basic modification
- Recorded configuration reconciled to the airframe and to the new register's records
- Modifications the receiving authority is likely to question raised before handover
- A modification status report indexed to the import acceptance questions
Scope this review
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What gets validated
- Each embodied STC has a validation or recognized acceptance route on the receiving register
- Service Bulletin embodiment carries the revision and effectivity that apply to this serial number
- Approval data behind each modification is present and appropriate to the installation
- Recorded configuration agrees with the airframe and with the incoming authority's records
- Modifications flagged for the receiving authority are supported by retrievable approval files
Evidence normally required
- The modification and STC status list with effectivity for the serial number
- STC certificates and the approval or substantiation data behind each
- Service Bulletin embodiment records with revision detail
- The receiving authority's import requirements and validation policy
- The current configuration reference for the aircraft type
Common discrepancies
- An STC valid on the departing register with no validation path identified for the receiving one
- A Service Bulletin recorded against a revision or effectivity that does not apply to the serial number
- A modification embodied without its approval or substantiation data on file
- Configuration records that lag a change made under a prior operator
What is at stake
A modification the receiving authority will not accept can force removal, a costly validation exercise, or an operating restriction the new operator inherits. Where the approval basis cannot be reconstructed, the change may have to be reversed to a known configuration, and that work lands after import when leverage over the previous owner is gone.
How the work runs
Establish the receiving policy
Pull the receiving authority's validation and acceptance rules for the modifications this aircraft carries.
Reconcile the configuration
Confirm STC and Service Bulletin embodiment against the airframe and the correct effectivity.
Sort by acceptance route
Assign each modification a validation, acceptance, or reversal path and flag the exposures.
Chase the approvals
Request the missing STC and substantiation evidence before the acceptance package closes.
What the buyer receives
- A modification status report keyed to the receiving authority's acceptance questions
- A list of modifications needing validation, acceptance, or reversal before import
- A document request set for the missing STC and approval evidence
Who uses the output
- Asset managers weighing modification risk against the acceptance timeline
- Continuing-airworthiness teams building the validation case for the receiving authority
- Records staff assembling the approval files the new register will require
How the work fits into the transaction or program
The review sits alongside the repair-record and AD checks in the import-acceptance file, isolating the configuration questions before submission. Its output tells the importing party which modifications need a validation path started early, so the acceptance date is not held hostage to an STC file that surfaces late.
Start with a single asset
Confirm the status list matches the underlying evidence.
Jurisdiction-specific considerations
STC recognition between FAA, EASA, and TCCA runs through bilateral agreements that cover some changes and not others. The review identifies which embodied modifications fall inside a recognized acceptance route and which require a fresh validation, so the importing party knows early where authority engagement is unavoidable.
Regulatory limits
The review assembles and tests modification evidence for the receiving authority to evaluate. It does not validate an STC, approve a modification, or make an airworthiness determination on the installed configuration.
What this review does not cover
- Preparing or lodging an STC validation application with the authority
- Developing or approving new modification data
- Any airworthiness determination on the modified configuration
Specific to this review
- STC entitlement does not cross registers by itself: each non-basic modification needs a recognized validation or acceptance route on the receiving authority's system.
- Effectivity is where modification records most often break, and a Service Bulletin logged against the wrong revision reads as a configuration the aircraft does not have.
- A modification whose approval basis cannot be reconstructed may have to be reversed to a known configuration, which is far costlier than confirming the basis before import.
Sources
U.S. Government (eCFR). Maintenance recordkeeping content and approval-for-return-to-service requirements, including 43.9, 43.11, and Appendix B.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Type certificates, STCs (Subpart E), TSO authorizations (Subpart O), PMA (Subpart K), and export airworthiness approvals (Subpart L).
Federal Aviation Administration. STC application process, certification basis, and continued airworthiness obligations of an STC holder.
European Union / EASA. EASA design and production certification, STCs, ETSO authorizations, and EASA Form 1 release.
U.S. Government (eCFR). Export airworthiness approval requirements and special requirements of an importing authority.
Frequently asked questions
Do our existing STCs carry over automatically when we import the aircraft?
Not on their own. STC recognition depends on bilateral arrangements between the departing and receiving authorities. The review identifies which modifications have a recognized acceptance route and which need a validation started before the import date.
Relevant glossary terms
Related pages
Where this fits
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