N-registered aircraft with EASA CPL/IR for aerial work in Europe

Can I use third-country registered aircraft for my SPO operations?

Answer

Third country registered aircraft – References: Reg. (EU) No 965/2012 on Air Operations; Reg. (EU) No 748/2012 on initial airworthiness

In accordance with ORO.SPO.100 (b), the aircraft used in commercial SPO (SPO-COM) shall have a certificate of airworthiness (CofA) issued by an EU Member State in accordance with Reg. (EU) No 748/2012 or shall be leased-in in accordance with ORO.SPO.100 (c). This means that operators conducting SPO-COM must operate aircraft registered in an EU MS or, alternatively, leased-in aircraft registered outside the EU.

In non-commercial SPO operations (SPO-NCC and SPO-NCO), there is no requirement with regard to the State of registration of aircraft.

For operations, such as parachute dropping, sailplane towing or aerobatic flights with non-complex motor powered aircraft, eligible for the exemption under SPO.GEN.005 (c), there is no requirement with regard to the registration of aircraft either.

The pilots will need US licenses/ratings unless all the flying is being done in the airspace of the country which issued their papers i.e. France. Reference: FAR 61.3; see also here.

You can get a 61.75 “piggyback” FAA license, and there is even a route to the FAA IR (either a standalone one or the “foreign pilot exam” route) but you can’t get an FAA CPL that way.

So basically the pilots need an FAA CPL/IR. This is not easy to do now, with the written exams no longer possible outside the US.

Aerial work operations cannot be conducted under a US private pilot certificate. Search this forum for “flight time as compensation” or see posts 25, 43 and 44 in the thread Wingly – illegal with an N-reg?

Presidential Proclamations 9993/9996 do not apply to persons entering the US under a student visa. There is a national interest exception for such persons. See Bureau of Consular Affairs guidance updated 1 Oct 2020 (link). Any flight training done by an alien in the US for the issue of a commercial or airline transport pilot certificate will need to be done under a student or other qualifying visa. See US ICE guide Nonimmigrants: Who can study? (pdf link). The TSA security threat assessment should only take a couple of days. Visa appointment wait times at US embassies/consulates vary by embassy/consulate (link). At the moment appointments can be secured on the same day in Madrid. There’s a 1 day wait Berlin Prague Vienna and Warsaw, 3 days Athens Brussels and Naples, 4 days Florence Lisbon and Tallinn, etc. The bottleneck will be the securing of a slot with a pilot examiner.

A permission will be required for commercial operations in the UK in aircraft registered elsewhere than in the EEA, the British Islands or UK overseas territories. Article 252 of the Air Navigation Order 2016 (link). See basic guidance and application forms on UK CAA page Foreign carriers permit – aerial work (link). That term “aerial work” was replaced with “commercial operation” in 2016. See article 7 of the UK ANO for an interpretation.

It sounds like the aircraft operator will be a third-country operator under UK’s retained EU law?

@Giovand, you are mixing a few things in your initial post. I’m writing strictly from an FAA POV, but for commercial ops such as surveys you would require an “Operating Certificate” for your airplane. There are some exceptions to that rule which are set out in 14 CFR 119.1. Ferry flying has nothing to do with airplane reg but with your license.

@172driver @giovand

EASA POV

The operator (company operating the commercial operation) needs to be eligible.

For survey flying, EASA SPO regulations apply. If a survey company „leases“ (rents) an airplane that is N-registered, that airplan can operate on the EASA SPO certificate.

I don’t think the FAA would be involved at all in this case (except for airworthiness and crew licensing requirements).