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July 2017
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CHAPTER-7A

Issuance Procedure of Airworthiness Directives on Indian Civil Registered

Aircraft, Engine, Propeller and Appliance where India is not the State of Design.

1. Introduction:
1.1 In accordance with CAR M, CAR 145, in general terms, an occurrence needs to be reported if
the event has resulted, or may result in a potentially hazardous or unsafe condition. This
procedure is applicable to reportable events linked to design, having an implication upon the
certification or maintenance aspects of aircraft, products, parts and appliances. Further,
Safety Recommendations arising from reported accidents and serious incidents may also
have an implication upon the certification or maintenance aspects of aircraft, products, parts
and appliances.

1.2 Continuing Airworthiness activities as described above, may result in the need of corrective
actions for certified products, parts and appliances. MA 303 of CAR M provides that DGCA
may also issue Airworthiness Directive in respect of any Indian civil registered aircraft,
engine, propeller and appliance fitted to such aircraft to make good of any feature or
condition affecting safety of the aircraft.

1.3 This chapter details the procedures and guidelines to be followed by officers of
Airworthiness Directorate for processing the issuance of airworthiness directives to correct
unsafe designs, production and maintenance problems for the aviation products of Indian
registered aircrafts when India is not a state of design for the type of aircraft and engine,
propeller and appliance fitted to such aircraft. Procedure for mandating Airworthiness
Directive issued by the State of Design is documented in APM (Part-II) Chapter 7.

2. Roles and Responsibilities

2.1 When deemed necessary and for sake of promoting the aviation safety level, DGCA may
particularly issue an AD
(a) To adopt a foreign AD issued by another aviation authority where the issuing
Authority is not the state of design of the product, or
(b) To implement a Service Bulletin (SB) to correct an potential unsafe condition likely to
endanger flight safety, or
(c) To deal with problems of aviation management, or
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(d) To respond to applications submitted by owners or operators to address unsafe

condition.
2.2 Director of Airworthiness of regional offices is responsible to review the occurrence reports
and if it is considered that such matter requires issuance of AD and to be mandated by
DGCA, DAW may forward the same with recommendation to Airworthiness Directorate
(DGCA Headquarters) for further review and processing for issuance of an AD.
2.3 Director of Airworthiness (DGCA Hqrs) is responsible to review the occurrence reports and
recommendation received from Regional office, which required to be mandated by DGCA.
Director of Airworthiness (DGCA Headquarters) will designate an officer familiar with type of
aircraft to further review and processing the proposal for issuance of an AD.
2.4 Designated Officers of Directorate of Airworthiness (DGCA Hqrs) is responsible to review the
AD issued by another aviation authority where the issuing Authority is not the state of design
of the product and initiate action for issuance of an AD if required.
2.5 When it is determined by DAW (Hqrs) that an unsafe condition exists in an approved aircraft
type design or maintenance, as a result of a deficiency in the aircraft, or an engine, propeller,
part or appliance installed on aircraft, and that condition is likely to exist or develop in other
aircraft, the DAW Hqrs may request the holder of the TC, restricted TC, STC, major repair
design approval or any other relevant approval, to propose appropriate corrective actions.

3. Airworthiness Directive Process

3.1 Procedure for Proposed Airworthiness Directives (PAD)

3.1.1 The designated officer will process the proposed corrective plan received from Regional
Offices / Operators / TC / STC holders and submit to the DAW (Hqrs) with detailed report
for taking decisions for issuance of an AD.

3.1.2 When it is decided to issue an AD to correct the unsafe condition, the designated officer
will prepare a Proposed Airworthiness Directives (PAD) using DGCA- AD Form (Appendix I)
and submit to DAW for his review and approval of JDG (Airworthiness) before publishing
for public consultation.

3.1.3 During review the proposed AD, if deemed necessary may consult expert from industry to
finalise the corrective action plan. The final version of the proposed AD will be processed
on file for approval of JDG (Airworthiness).
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3.2 AD Consultation Process

3.2.1 After the draft AD specified in the Para 3.1.3 is completed, the final proposed AD after JDG’s
approval will be published on DGCA website for 30 days for public comments. If deemed
necessary, DAW may decide to modify this period depending on the type of proposed AD.

3.2.2 The DAW may collect public comments, either in a meeting or in written, from the original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) and operators to provide comments about corrective
actions for unsafe conditions, reasonable cost impact, practicable effective date and
compliance time etc.

3.3 Approval of the Proposed AD

3.3.1 All Comments received within the comment period will be consolidated and a draft Comment
Response Document will be prepared by the designated officer. The Comment Response
Document will be submitted to the DAW for his review. The DAW with his team reviews the
comments received to decide appropriate responses. The DAW may consult expert from
industry to finalise the corrective action plan.

3.3.2 The designated officer after incorporating the changes on the basis of decision taken on the
comment response document, will prepare the final AD and submit to DAW for approval of
JDG (AW).

3.3.3 When time constraint makes collecting public comments impracticable, the DGCA may issue
the AD first then collect public comments later to revise the AD. After the AD specified above
is issued, the DAW may collect comments, either in a meeting or in written, from the public
to revise the AD when necessary.
3.3.4 The approved AD will be allotted a number. AD number for a new or superseded AD will be
given in a format DGCA - YYYY - MM-NN for example, DGCA-2016-02-01, where DGCA
stands for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the 1st string represents the year,
the 2nd string represents the month, and the last string is the number in sequence.
3.4 Notification, Distribution and Publication of the AD

3.4.1 The approved AD will be published on DGCA website for compliance by stake holders. A copy
of AD will also be forwarded to the TC / STC holder and Regional/ Sub-regional offices by e-
mail. The information on AD, will also be forwarded to the State of Design for information.
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4. Emergency AD Procedures

4.1 In case of situations, in which emergency action by DGCA is required, the DAW reviews the
proposed corrective action as per Para 3 above and assess, if an Emergency AD is appropriate.
The DAW then drafts the Emergency AD in co-ordination with the TC/ STC holder or industry
expert, if available. As the Emergency AD requires immediate notification and publication, the
DAW submits the Emergency AD to JDG for approval.

4.2 DGCA may decide not to implement the consultation process. A justification explaining why the
consultation process is not followed and the reasons for issuing an Emergency AD is provided
in the text of the Emergency AD, under the item (13) “Reason” (see Appendix I). The standard
AD review and public comments collection process may be implemented later on and to revise
the AD, if required.

4.3 Notification, distribution and publication of Emergency ADs

4.3.1 After approval by the JDG, in accordance with Para 3, the DAW advices immediately for
issuance of the Emergency AD. Intimation, distribution and publication of Emergency ADs
follow the provisions under para 3.4.

4.3.2 The effective date of the Emergency AD is the date of approval unless otherwise specified in
the AD itself.

5. Changes to previously issued AD

5.1 If changes to previously issued ADs are deemed necessary, these changes are issued as
corrections or revisions to the original AD depending on the nature of the content being
changed. In addition, ADs may be superseded by new ADs depending on the nature of the
content being changed.

5.2 The final consideration is the effect the change will have on the AD and on the owners/
operators who would be affected by the AD.

5.3 Corrected AD

5.3.1 The simplest form of an AD change is a corrected AD of non substantive material, i.e., the
change has no effect on compliance with the AD. An AD may require correction of a non
substantive DGCA error or a printing error in the DGCA website.
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5.3.2 If a non substantive error or typing error is found in an AD, it may be called for correction. The
DAW reviews such error in the AD in coordination with other officers, if necessary. Then, the
designated officer corrects the AD and submits it to the DAW for approval and publication.
The original AD is replaced with the corrected AD. The corrected AD is indicated with letter ‘A’
at the end of last string on the original AD number e.g. DGCA - 2016-02-01 A.

5.4 Superseding / Revised AD

5.4.1 A substantive change to an AD, is issued as a superseded AD. Substantive changes, including
corrections, are those made to any instruction or reference that affects the substance of the
AD.
5.4.2 Substantive changes may include part numbers, service bulletin and manual references,
compliance time, expanded applicability, methods of compliance, corrective action, inspection
requirements, and effective dates.
5.4.3 In general, whenever there is an additional (or different) requirement imposed or an expanded
scope of required inspection, the change should be issued as a superseded AD. Substantive
changes to an AD are assessed by the DAW in coordination with the TC/STC holder / Industry
expert following the process detailed in Para 3 above.

5.4.4 After approval of JDG, the AD will be issued for distribution and publication. The reason
paragraph should include a discussion of each change, how each change affects compliance,
and the fact that all other parts of the AD remain as originally published.
6. Record Keeping
6.1 All records related to procedures followed for issuance of AD /EAD should be retained by DAW
(Hqrs). Before issuing an AD, an AD database containing all key data should be maintained for
making AD lists and AD inquiries.
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Appendix I: DGCA AD FORMAT

AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTORATE
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION
OPP: TO SAFDARJUNG AIRPORT
NEW DELHI-110003

PROPOSED EMERGENCY / AIRWORTHINESS (1) AD No : YYYY-XXXX - (E)

DIRECTIVE
(PAD No : YY-XXX)

(2) Issued/Date: dd. mm. yyyy

(3) No person may operate an aircraft to which an Airworthiness Directive applies, except in
accordance with the requirements of that Airworthiness Directive unless otherwise agreed with the
Authority of the State of Registry.

(4) Type Approval Holder (5) Type/Model designation(s)

(6) TC / STC (Data Sheet)

(7) Foreign AD Number

8) Supersedure

(9-a)ATA Chapter name 9-b) Name of the affected part/ (9-c) Required action
system

10) Action

(11) Manufacturer

(12) Applicability:

(13) Reason:
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(14) Effective Date

(15) Compliance:

(16) Ref. Publications

(17) Remarks: 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated, the DAW may

accept Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs) for this AD.

2. This AD was circulated as PAD YY-XXX for consultation on DD/

MM/ YYYY with a comment period until DD/MM/YYYY. The
Comment Response Document can be found at
http://www.dgca.nic.in

3. Enquiries regarding this AD should be addressed to the DAW,

, Office of DGCA, Opp. Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi-110003

AD -Focal Points:

a ) Directorate of Airworthiness ( DGCA Hqrs)

4. For any questions concerning the technical content of the

requirements in this AD/ SB , please contact the DAW /
Manufacturer