While the U.S. has been working to revise its Part 23certification rules for small aircraft, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has been working on a similar project, and this week EASA published its final rule. Both new rules are set to take effect in August. “This is a landmark day for the general aviation industry,” GAMA President Pete Bunce said in a news release from Aero, Europe’s biggest GA show, which opened Wednesday in Germany. “This rule is nothing less than a total rethinking of how our industry can bring new models of pistons, diesels, turboprops, light jets, and new hybrid and electric propulsion aeroplanes to market, as well as facilitating safety-enhancing modifications and upgrades to the existing fleet.”
The new rule forms part of a global, harmonized effort to develop common certification standards and promote the acceptance of airplanes and products worldwide. New production aircraft will be required to meet consensus standards, similar to the way LSAs are certified now. And since the U.S. and Europe will share a similar structure, it should be easier for small manufacturers to market their products abroad, offering more choices to pilots. “The new CS-23 rule [will reduce] the time, cost, and risk involved in certification,” Bunce said. “This will provide existing and future pilots with the tools they need to fly safer and more easily.”
