Safety of foreign aircraft

SAFA / SACA ramp inspections program

SAFA : Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft
SACA : Safety Assessment of Community Aircraft

A ground inspection of a foreign aircraft is a quick inspection, usually during a stopover. The inspection covers documentation, exterior and interior condition (cockpit, cabin and cargo compartment) and safety equipment.

The particular interest of this program is the sharing of the results of these inspections in a common database, managed by EASA. In addition to the possibility of detecting faults that could pose a risk for the next flight through an isolated inspection, the SAFA / SACA program thus makes it possible to detect which operators are more often affected by faults. In addition, operators' corrective actions are entered in the database and provide additional insight into their attitude to problems that could affect safety.

This exchange of data is made possible by strict standardization of inspections and the qualifications of inspectors. Thus the same checklist of 53 items is used for all inspections.

The DAC performs these inspections at Luxembourg airport.