6-10 May 2019

The EU-China Aviation Partnership Project (APP) successfully concluded an experience exchange visit to Europe dedicated to flight tests, focusing on authority and Design Approval Holder perspectives. The delegation from China, representing CAAC headquarters and the Shanghai Aircraft Airworthiness Certification Center, visited EASA in Cologne (Germany), Airbus and ATR in Toulouse (France).

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The visit facilitated exchanges on how EASA, CAAC and European Design Approval Holders are organised to perform flight test activities, how they ensure product safety and how flight tests in particular support this. During the first part of the visit, EASA and CAAC presented their respective approaches to flight test organisation. EASA experts presented the European flight test regulation, the EASA Flight Test Manual, and introduced the application of Safety Management System (SMS) in airworthiness.

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The second part of the visit took place at Airbus and ATR premises. At both sites, the delegation were given presentations on the organisation of flight test activities in practice, and visited simulators used for flight tests.

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This experience exchange, in line with similar EU-China APP activities organised before on the authorities’ systems in the design domain, contributed to a reinforced dialogue and relationship between EASA and CAAC. The delegates achieved a better understanding about the organisation of flight test within the European Design Organisation Approval system, and both European and Chinese counterparts expressed the wish to continue exchanges to learn more from each other in the future.

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You can find the supporting resources for this activity here.  A password is required, to request access please contact Wang Lili at lili.wang@eu-china-app.org.

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