Airworthiness Directives

For real time Safety Publications please consult the Safety Publications Tool.

Airworthiness Directives are issued by EASA, acting in accordance with the Basic Regulation on behalf of the European Community, its Member States and of the European third countries that participate in the activities of EASA under Article 66 of that Regulation.

In accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1321/2014 (Annex I, M.A.301), the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft shall be ensured by accomplishing any applicable ADs. Consequently, no person may operate an aircraft to which an AD applies, except in accordance with the requirements of that AD unless otherwise specified by the Agency (Annex I, M.A.303) or agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry (Article 14(4) exemption of the Basic Regulation).

ADs applicable to an EASA approved type certificate are those ADs which have been issued or adopted by the Agency.
ADs are issued by the Agency through Agency decisions.
ADs are adopted by the Agency through:

The dissemination of airworthiness directives to aircraft owners is a responsibility of the State of Registry and does not belong to the Agency.

For questions about Airworthiness Directives please visit the dedicated FAQ section.

Sensitive Security Airworthiness Directive (SSAD)

An SSAD is an AD issued or adopted by EASA that mandates certain corrective actions, the content of which includes security sensitive information.

An SSAD will be disseminated by EASA to those states having affected aircraft on the register. Further distribution of the SSAD to operators of the affected aircraft or other concerned parties remains under State of Registry responsibility, and should be done on a "need to know" basis only.

An SSAD record is uploaded in the EASA Safety Publications publishing tool, but only after the end of the SSAD compliance time and without attachments;

The Safety Publications tool

The EASA Safety Publications publishing tool (SP Tool) offers a complete list of Airworthiness Directives that have been issued or approved by EASA since 28/09/2003. The tool also contains all Proposed Airworthiness Directives (PAD) and allows users to submit their comments during the consultation period.

After 15/09/2008, new Safety Information Bulletins, Foreign State of Design Safety Publications and Foreign State of Design ADs are published within the EASA SP tool.

From July 2016, EASA SP tool also includes Conflict Zone Information Bulletins (CZIB).

The subscription service for new publications enables users to define their own filter and to receive notifications for these filtered documents.

Please consult the user guide for information on how to view and filter new publications and on how to subscribe to their automatic notification

From September 2016, the Safety Publications Tool has been changed to include a new taxonomy for Parts and Appliances ADs – click here for details.

Not all the ADs issued by the NAAs prior to 28/09/2003 (start date of the Agency) are included at this time. Any State of Design AD not (yet) located in the EASA SP Tool should be retrieved from the original State of Design National Airworthiness Authority (NAA), likely available on the respective NAA websites.

Alternative Methods of Compliance to Airworthiness Directives (AMOC to ADs)

An Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) is an EASA approved deviation to an AD. It is a different way, other than the one specified in an AD, to address an unsafe condition on products, parts and appliances. An AMOC must provide an acceptable level of safety, equivalent to the level of safety intended for compliance with the original AD.

To apply for AMOC to ADs, fill FO.CAP.00042 and send it back to:

For questions about AMOC to ADs please visit the dedicated FAQ section.

Safety Information Bulletins (SIB)

Formerly named Safety Information Notices. SIBs are for information only; they do not contain mandatory instructions.

Non-EU Member State Airworthiness Directives

For products, parts and appliances, for which the Agency only exercises the design responsibilities of the State of registry, its policy is to endorse automatically the airworthiness directives issued by the State of design, except if it itself issues a different airworthiness directive before the date of effectivity of the State of design airworthiness directive (ED Decision 02/2003).

Conflict Zone Information Bulletins (CZIB)

For more information see “Information on Conflict Zones”.

Useful links

While the dissemination of airworthiness directives to aircraft owners is a responsibility of the State of Registry, the EASA wishes to ensure that website visitors are able to find detailed information about the ADs listed in the .pdf documents above. The links above offer direct links to AD pages at EU-Member National Aviation Authorities and related bodies.

Events

For old and upcoming events and workshops and related material,please consult the Airworthiness Directives events page.

Contacts

Inquiries relating to Airworthiness Directives and Proposed Airworthiness Directives should be sent to:

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