EASA may ease parts approval rules Aircraft equipment suppliers could be given the autonomy to approve component designs without recourse to either the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) or the aircraft manufacturer under a review of Design Organisation Approval (DOA) rules, writes Aimée Turner.
While the 2003 introduction of DOA certificates approved the ability of organisations to design aviation products according to European Union rules, the move from the precursor Joint Aviation Authorities design approval regime meant that equipment suppliers lost their independent approval status.
EASA – which issues the certificates – admits that its review is to determine a possible future regulatory approval regime that ensures necessary airworthiness safeguards within a modern, global design and manufacturing environment.
“The DOA is only a tool, and it is recognised that with changes in industry practice, for example in the use of risk-sharing partners, the DOA concept as applied today may not lead to the most effi cient or economic working practices,” says EASA.
“It is about matching the regulatory environment with a recognition that specialist design capability of complex components does not reside in the fi nal manufacturing assembler,” says EASA.
“The global policy of the agency is that delegation is the way forward, although we have to work out the context of that,making sure that safety issues are at the fore.”
EASA has developed a questionnaire to allow DOA stakeholders to contribute their experiences and insights by 31 March.
The fi ndings will be presented at EASA’s US conference in Portland, Oregon in June.
Source: Flight International
