Nataša Bešter

Compliance and Safety Manager, Civil Aviation Agency Republic of Slovenia

Nataša is extremely passionate about aviation and has spent her entire career to date (over 20 years) in this sector. She is currently the Compliance and Safety Manager at the Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) of the Republic of Slovenia. She is also an active ramp inspector (since 2014) and undertakes safety assessments of foreign aircraft. During Slovenia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, she had a diplomatic posting in Brussels working as an aviation attaché. She has extensive experience working with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European regulator, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). She is a holder of a cabin crew attestation and has worked as a cabin crew instructor for several operators.

The Benefits of the Ramp Inspections Awareness Programme

In order to prevent major aviation accidents, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) established the Ramp Inspection Programme. All operators, regardless of the country of certification, arriving and/or departing at/from EU (EASA) airports and airports of countries that have joined the programme can be subject to a ramp inspection, chiefly concerned with the aircraft documents and manuals, flight crew licenses, the apparent condition of the aircraft and the presence and condition of mandatory cabin safety equipment. The programme is currently implemented in 51 countries globally. Besides the EASA countries, the programme is implemented also in: e.g. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Monaco, Qatar, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. It is expected that the programme will expand in years to come. The legal basis for such inspections is Article 16 of the Chicago Convention.

By establishing the “Ramp Inspection Awareness Programme”, operators can assist their crews to better prepare for ramp inspections and avoid the unnecessary stress that is usually associated with such types of inspections, as well as assist operators to improve their safety score (ramp ratio). Better scores lead to fewer inspections. A poor result may lead to immediate grounding of the aircraft to prevent the continuation of the infringement, or to operational bans in certain geographic/economic areas of the world.

This interactive session will provide WATS participants with the information on the regulatory background, cabin items that are inspected, and the most common findings. It will also outline regulatory developments that are in the pipeline for implementation, and how to prepare for these.