Unannounced inspections of foreign-registered aircraft will be carried out to ensure they adhere to local regulations, CAAM said in a letter to aircraft owners and operators.

The letter said all foreign registered aircraft are permitted to operate but cannot be chartered while awaiting proposed amendments to the civil aviation regulations.

CAAM chief executive Norazman Mahmud said the agency is in the process of introducing tighter rules on the operations of foreign-registered aircraft.

The review “will include the introduction of a few other provisions to provide the industry and stakeholders options for their continuous operations”.

In the meantime, CAAM will ensure more unannounced ramp inspections and surveillance is carried out.

“This buffer period will end on July 26,” he added.

Malaysia’s civil aviation regulations stipulate that foreign-registered aircraft can operate in Malaysian airspace for a maximum of six months, but this can be extended with the approval of the regulator.

The CAAM statement comes in the wake of the crash of a US-registered Beechcraft 390 private jet in Shah Alam last August, killing 10 people.

The jet bore the registration number N28JV, denoting it was registered with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

In September, a US-registered Airbus EC120B helicopter crashed in Bidor, killing the pilot, who held an FAA pilot’s licence.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) in its final report advised CAAM to look into the shortcomings of its oversight of the training of FAA licence holders operating in Malaysia.