Airworthiness reviews and the role of OSAC: how France delegates oversight

One authority, one authorised body

In the European system, each Member State designates a competent authority to oversee aircraft registered in its territory and the organisations established there. In France, that authority is the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC). For a large share of oversight tasks, it relies on an authorised body: OSAC (Organisme pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile).

OSAC is a subsidiary of the Apave group, its majority shareholder. The order designating the body for a third consecutive authorisation was published in the Journal Officiel on 3 August 2022. The authorisation runs for six years, from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2028.

Scope of tasks

According to the press release issued when the authorisation was renewed, OSAC oversees the airworthiness of around 14,000 aircraft and ensures compliance with French and European regulations. Its tasks include:

• issuing, overseeing, suspending and withdrawing approvals for production, maintenance, continuing airworthiness management and maintenance training organisations;
• processing aircraft airworthiness documents;
• aircraft maintenance licences.

The body acts within the framework set by regulation and by an agreement with the DGAC, which remains the authority. Decisions fall within cases, conditions and limits defined by ministerial order. For industry, OSAC is therefore the operational point of contact for most approval and oversight procedures, without taking the place of the State authority.

The airworthiness review, pivot of continuing airworthiness

Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 organises continuing airworthiness around a regular milestone: the airworthiness review, which leads to the issue or extension of the Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC). The aircraft's certificate of airworthiness is only valid if the ARC is also valid.

The ARC is valid for one year. Depending on the case, the review is carried out by the competent authority or by a continuing airworthiness management organisation holding the relevant privilege. Where the aircraft is managed continuously by the same CAMO in a controlled environment, that CAMO may extend the ARC under the conditions laid down in the regulation, without a new full review.

The review has two strands:

• a documentary review: maintenance history, maintenance programme, airworthiness directives, modifications and repairs, life-limited parts, mass and balance;
• a physical survey of the aircraft, to check that its actual condition matches the records.

What it means for stakeholders

For a CAMO, the quality of the review depends directly on record-keeping throughout the year. Discrepancies discovered late, such as an unapplied directive or a part without traceability, can ground the aircraft.

For a Part-145 shop, the relationship with the oversight body means regular audits, approval of the organisation exposition and its changes, and closure of findings within the set deadlines.

For general aviation owners, European regulatory changes have brought more flexibility, but the principle remains unchanged: an aircraft flies only with valid airworthiness documents.

Preparing for the review

In practice, preparing for an airworthiness review starts well before the aircraft survey. The most effective organisations continuously maintain a summary file: status of airworthiness directives, a list of modifications and repairs with their approval data, the situation of life-limited parts and the latest check reports. This work shortens the review, limits the risk of findings and makes it easier to transfer aircraft between operators or when changing CAMO.

A distinctive delegation model

France stands out for this structural use of an authorised body to carry out oversight tasks. The model ensures continuity of expertise across a very wide scope, from light aviation to large industrial shops. In return, it requires close coordination with the DGAC, which retains responsibility for oversight policy and the decisions that flow from it.