ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2022 - 35

The Challenges
Affected operators are most interested in the impact of
the orphaned STC on their operations, both in likelihood
and severity.
SURRENDERED STCs
When an STC is surrendered in an orderly way by the DAH, it
typically remains valid and, therefore, in practice, there is no
immediate impact on the operator. However, from the moment
the STC is surrendered by the DAH, the operator bears the
increased risk from the missing support should there be:
* An airworthiness directive (AD) against the STC
* An AD against the area or zone of the aircraft that was
modified by the STC
* A design deficiency regarding the STC that requires a
change to the aircraft or its documentation
* The desire to further modify the zone of the aircraft
affected by the STC (since the now unsupported STC
is part of the so-called pre-mod condition)
Depending on the threshold prescribed by an AD or
determined for resolution of the design deficiency, an aircraft
on ground (AOG) is likely to occur once this threshold is
reached, unless a solution is found to reestablish support of
the STC, generally from another DAH.
ABANDONED STCs
In principle, the situation for abandoned STCS is the same as
with surrendered STCs, which is the immediate airworthiness
of the equipment is not affected and the risk comes with
future ADs, design deficiencies or modifications. However,
in this case, where the DAH has abandoned support of the
STC without informing either the authority or the operator(s),
the operator may be unaware of the abandonment and would
therefore not initiate any steps to restore support. As such,
the likelihood of incurring risk for the operator is increased
since valuable time is lost until the abandonment is eventually
discovered. Should the discovery happen on the occasion
of an AD or design deficiency, the severity may also be high
since any required immediate action would lead to an AOG.
Regulatory Requirements
Both the FAA and EASA have processes in place for orphaned
STCs. These procedures focus on supporting the affected
operator(s) in obtaining access to the necessary technical
information from the surrendered/abandoned STCs so that
they may continue to operate their equipment safely.
FAA
The FAA follows the guidance in Order 8110.120, " Processing
Surrendered, Abandoned, and Historical Type Certificates, " in
making the technical data available to those who request it.
As stated in the order, FAA policy discourages the surrender
of a TC/STC and encourages the certificate holder to transfer
it to another party. If the holder continues with the surrender
process, it must transfer all the required design data and
records necessary to support the governmental certification
of the product to the FAA. Once the FAA has determined it
has all the required documentation, it accepts the certificate
as surrendered. Surrender by the certificate holder does not
relieve it of civil liability associated with the design.
In the case of abandonment, when an operator submits a
written request to the FAA for assistance because it can no
longer obtain technical support from the DAH for maintaining
airworthiness or assistance in the development of a product
improvement, the FAA will conduct a records' check and
initiate the steps to confirm that the certificate is abandoned.
If the FAA determines the certificate to be abandoned, Section
302 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012
allows the FAA to release data for that STC. The section was
written to assist operators with maintaining their aircraft. As
such, the requestor can only use the released data on their
own aircraft.
Once the FAA takes ownership of the design data and
records, it will neither modify the data, nor will it provide the
data to support a new TC/STC.
EASA
EASA's general position regarding its handling of surrendered
and abandoned STCs is similar, but not identical to the FAA.
In EASA FAQ n469886: Regarding surrendered/abandoned
STCs, EASA states it keeps the responsibility with the holder
and that EASA's oversight is strictly limited to continued
airworthiness. EASA provides technical data on abandoned
STCs in its possession upon request.
Conclusion
Both the FAA and EASA have procedures in place for cases
when the support for STCs becomes unavailable. However,
these procedures come in effect only after the fact, which
means after the STC has been surrendered or abandoned,
and serves only as " harm barriers " in the sense of managing
the risk. The risk remains mainly with the operator who might
face tight deadlines, AOG situations and/or additional costs
for transferring the STC to a different DAH. As an effective
" risk barrier " at the start of an STC process, the cooperation
of trustworthy and dependable DAHs and arrangements for
continued support and, if necessary, transfer of the STC(s),
is highly recommended. Due to the severity of an orphaned
STC and requirements for ongoing support for airworthiness,
IAMA members commit to a process for STCs that de-risk any
unforeseen transfers and allow for future support of IAMAendorsed
modifications.
To learn more about how to navigate an orphaned STC
situation, visit iamalliance.aero.
Jetrader * SPR I NG 2022 * 35
http://www.iamalliance.aero
ISTAT Jetrader - Spring 2022

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