Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/20122 lays down detailed rules as regard safety margins for approach and landing performance conditions, for flights of two-engined aeroplanes with one engine inoperative without holding an extended range operational approval (‘ETOPS’), as well as technical requirements for the carriage of flight recorders. That Regulation also lays down detailed rules on the secure flight crew compartment door for performance class A aeroplanes that have a maximum operational passenger seating (‘MOPS’) configuration of 19.

Investigation reports of accidents have indicated that the different methods for assessing the runway surface conditions before landing and on reporting on them after landing contribute significantly to runway excursions, in particular when the runway is wet or contaminated. The current standards in Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 for aeroplane performance calculations do not cover adequately all surface conditions on wet and contaminated runways in relation to the method used for assessing and reporting the runway surface conditions.

In this regard, the International Civil Aviation Organization (‘ICAO’) amended a number of Standards and Recommended Practices (‘SARPs’) in Annexes 6, 8, 14 and 15 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘Chicago Convention’) and has produced extensive accompanying guidance material. The purpose of those documents is to establish a globally harmonised reporting format for runway surface conditions and the airworthiness standards necessary for the assessment of the landing distance for aeroplanes as well as operational provisions on landing performance calculations and runway surface conditions reporting.

Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should therefore be amended to address the safety recommendations issued by investigation authorities and to implement the relevant ICAO SARPs. In order to meet the ICAO recommendations, the amended requirements should enter into force on 5 November 2020 at the latest.

Furthermore, in CAT operations aeroplanes of certain performance classes (A and B) are allowed in other regulatory systems to land within a reduced landing distance available on the intended runway, provided that they are granted a prior approval from the competent authority and that they fulfil a number of risk-mitigating conditions. Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should define the conditions under which those operations may be conducted, while maintaining an acceptable level of safety. The relevant administrative form for operational approvals should be amended accordingly to include those operations.

Reports from investigations of accidents have indicated that in some instances a continuous recording by cockpit voice recorders (‘CVRs’) and their associated cockpit-mounted area microphones after an interruption of the main electrical generating system could have provided useful information. Therefore, to mitigate any possible interruption of the main electrical generating system, an alternate power supply should be required. This is in line with Annex 6 Part I to the Chicago Convention.

For some categories of light aeroplanes and helicopters operated in CAT, the recently adopted SARPs in Annex 6 to the Chicago Convention require the carriage of in-flight recording equipment. In addition, safety investigation authorities addressed to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (‘the Agency’) twelve safety recommendations related to the need for an in-flight recording for light aeroplanes and helicopters.

In line with the principle of proportionality and based on risk assessment, the obligation to install a flight recorder in new aircraft should reflect the size and complexity of such aircraft and the type of operation. Therefore, light aeroplanes and helicopters that are newly manufactured and that are used in CAT or commercial specialised operations (‘SPO’) should be equipped with flight recorders when they meet certain criteria regarding their maximum take-off weight, their propulsion-type or their maximum occupancy. In addition, requirements on the handling (preservation, production, protection and use) of recordings by flight recorders, should be modified to encompass the types of flight recorders introduced by the new flight recorder carriage requirements.

With regard to the requirement to equip with a secure flight crew compartment door, ICAO amended SARPs by changing the mass limits that render a secure flight crew compartment door mandatory. Thus, Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should be amended accordingly to ensure harmonisation of the rules for air operations and a level playing field between Union and third-country air operators.

Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 defines eligibility criteria (certified maximum take-off mass and certified maximum operational passenger seating configuration threshold) for the conduct of flights without holding an ETOPS approval and with performance class A aeroplanes over a route that contains a point further to a distance beyond 60 minutes and up to 120 minutes of flight time from an adequate aerodrome at the one-engine-inoperative cruising speed. Class A aeroplanes that meet those eligibility criteria are allowed to be operated at a distance between 120 and 180 minutes from an adequate aerodrome, provided they obtained an approval by the competent authority and provided that the aeroplane has been granted a type design approval for such operations.

Several aeroplane manufacturers have already designed or are designing performance class A aeroplanes that are above those eligibility criteria for operations without ETOPS. The current provisions distort competition among air taxi operators with aeroplanes that are below those criteria. Given that no other major regulatory body has imposed such criteria for operations without ETOPS, Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should be amended accordingly.

With regard to first-aid oxygen equipment in CAT operations, recent technological developments of that equipment attain an equivalent level of safety and therefore Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should be amended to allow the use of such equipment.

Requirements of a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) of Annex III of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 are not applicable to Approved Training Organisation (ATO), therefore Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should be amended to allow competent authorities to issue an approval for the development of a (MEL) by an ATO.

Further to recent amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/20143, Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 should be amended to correct cross-references between the two regulations.

The Agency has prepared draft implementing rules and submitted them with Opinion No 02/2019 to the Commission in accordance with points (b) and (c) Article 75(2) and Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 127 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139,