The European Union’s top aviation safety regulator said on Tuesday that he is “very worried” about the safety of Western-made aircraft continuing to fly in Russia without access to spare parts and proper maintenance. The European Union and the United States have moved to restrict Russia’s access to spare parts following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.” “This is very unsafe,” Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), told reporters on the sidelines of a conference, adding regulators do not have good data on many of the planes flying in Russia or if any have experienced safety issues in recent months. Ky said regulators should consider requests for exemptions from Russia “on a case by case basis, what would be the justification, why do you absolutely need to operate this type of […]