AF Technical Committee · AF/TC 03
Airworthiness & Continuing Airworthiness
Continuing AF Technical Committee for airworthiness and continuing-airworthiness technical questions.
Understand the distinction
A technical home, not a blanket approval authority.
Read scope, responsibilities and related work together. Cross-disciplinary subjects can need more than one Committee.
Continuity and coordination
A Committee retains subject knowledge, coordinates review and connects related Working Group activity. Its public scope is the starting point for placing a question.
Technical focus areasFocused execution
A Working Group addresses a bounded question, evidence task or draft. A completed draft or Committee recommendation is distinct from authorized publication.
Technical Work ProcessParticipation is considered separately
Relevant experience and competence need to fit the subject and the applicable arrangements. Membership alone does not confer an appointment or voting authority.
Eligibility and participationCommittee purpose
Purpose
Aircraft remain safe in service through an evidence chain linking design, production, maintenance, modification and operational experience. AF/TC 03 offers a continuing structure for examining those interfaces and sharing technically grounded interpretation where appropriate.
Coordinates technical discussion across initial and continuing airworthiness while respecting the authority of applicable regulatory and approval bodies.
Continuing technical role
What the Committee Does
Within its defined scope, AF/TC 03 maintains continuity between related questions and the work developed to address them.
- Examines technical questions spanning design, production and in-service assurance.
- Reviews maintenance, repair and modification evidence within defined topics.
- Connects airworthiness questions with testing, materials and operational-safety expertise.
- Supports Working Groups on focused research or technical comparisons and reviews their findings.
Defined subject boundary
Technical Scope
The Committee's technical scope provides the subject boundary for continuing coordination. Related questions may still require input from other Committees.
Design and production
- Airworthiness research
- Design and production assurance
- Technical evaluation of changes
- Evidence supporting qualification and conformity
Continuing airworthiness
- Maintenance, repair and overhaul
- Modification and in-service change
- Reliability and service experience
- Civil-military technical cooperation where relevant
Topic route
How technical work enters the Committee
A question can be identified within the Committee's scope or referred through AF Technical Work. The appropriate route depends on relevance, existing evidence and the work required.
- 01Technical need identified
- 02Topic submitted or referred
- 03Scope and existing landscape reviewed
- 04Appropriate route considered
- 05Working Group, research or direct review where appropriate
- 06Committee review and technical recommendation
- 07Applicable AF output or decision process
Focused technical development
Expert Working Groups
Where a defined question requires focused development, the Committee may support an Expert Working Group with an appropriate mandate, expertise and expected output. Work may include research, evidence review, technical drafting, landscape analysis, comparison or consultation preparation.
A Working Group reports its findings through the relevant technical structure; it does not independently make a final AF institutional decision.
Connected expertise
Cross-Committee Coordination
Many aerospace questions cross technical boundaries. AF/TC 03 may coordinate with the Committees below when their expertise is relevant; these are peer relationships, not lines of subordination.
Technical participation
Interested in contributing to AF/TC 03?
Design, certification-support, maintenance and continuing-airworthiness specialists can provide relevant technical and in-service experience. Eligible members and relevant technical experts may share their interests through the Federation's participation routes. Membership does not automatically create a Committee appointment.
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