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CAAC paves the way for C919 to move into flight testing
Thursday, 3 December 2020
Six C919 flight test aircraft will now carry out more intensive flight test missions, verifying the type's safety and reliability, and ensuring compliance with airworthiness regulations, following a ceremony in Nanchang.

The review meeting for the C919 aircraft type inspection approval letter was held in Nanchang, Jiangxi at the end of November, and the Shanghai Aircraft Airworthiness Certification Center of CAAC subsequently issued the first type inspection approval letter (TIA) for the C919 project. This means that the C919 flight mechanism is more or less in place, the aircraft structure is essentially verified, and the maturity of the verification and verification of the requirements of each system can ensure the safety and effectiveness of the certification flight. It also marks the official entry of the C919 aircraft into the flight certification stage of the programme.

The meeting was attended by Wu Xiaojun, Member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Nanchang Municipal Party Committee; Shen Xiaoming, Director of the China Civil Aviation Aircraft Airworthiness Certification Center; and Zhao Yuerang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of COMAC. Gu Xin, director of Shanghai Certification Center, presided over the meeting. Wei Yingbiao, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of the company, and Xiao Yun, member of the Standing Committee of the Nanchang Municipal Committee and Deputy Mayor, were also in attendance. Jie Yuwen, the leader of the C919 project type certification review team of the Shanghai Certification Center, issued the first type inspection approval letter for the C919 project.

Wu Xiaojun expressed his warm congratulations on the C919 large passenger aircraft being awarded the first type inspection and approval letter. He pointed out that this is a major event in the history of Nanchang's development. Nanchang is the birthplace of New China's first aircraft. Since the COMAC Nanchang flight test base was put into use, the C919 aircraft has completed a series of test flight tasks in the region.

Shen Xiaoming said that since 2008, the bureau review team and the COMAC C919 team have adhered to safety first and steadily promoted the model certification review work. Both teams have always maintained a high degree of political responsibility, always attached importance to work coordination, and always improved. As an important task, capability and airworthiness research has achieved milestone progress. Faced with the new situation and new challenges after entering the bureau's flight certification test, the teams of both parties must further unify their thinking, build consensus, effectively control the flight certification safety, and regard safety as the top priority; strictly grasp the certification standards and regulations, and ensure that they are suitable. Aviation certification quality control; practically strengthen work coordination, implement the ‘five integrations’, take the initiative to act, and ensure the safety and efficiency of the certification work.

The type inspection approval letter is a document issued by the type certification review team leader to approve the review representative (including the appointed representative) to conduct pre-certification flight test inspections, on-site sightings, or flight tests of the aircraft prototype.

Obtaining the signed type inspection and approval letter and conducting the flight certification test by the authority are the key links in the airworthiness certification of commercial aircraft. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China's Civil Aviation Products and Components Certification Regulations (CCAR 21), before the CAAC launches the certification test flight, the applicant should show to the CAAC that the aircraft meets the relevant structural requirements in the airworthiness regulations and complete the necessary ground Check and test, perform necessary flight tests and submit reports.

The development of the C919 large passenger aircraft project adheres to the principle of safety first and steady progress. At present, a total of six flight test aircraft have been put into the certification and flight test work in Yanliang, Shaanxi, Nanchang, Jiangxi, Dongying, Shandong, Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, Turpan, Xinjiang, and Dunhuang, Gansu. It has completed important flight test subjects such as flutter/aero-servo elasticity, stall, airspeed calibration, high temperature and high humidity, and liquid drainage of the whole aircraft; carried out a series of ground verification tests, R&D flight test and compliance flight test. The flight control system, hydraulic landing gear, avionics and electrical systems have been verified; all the static tests of the whole aircraft including the 2.5g limit load static test have been completed, laying the foundation for the certification test flight.

In the future, the six C919 flight test aircraft will steadily carry out more intensive flight test missions according to the development plan, and will fully verify the safety and reliability of the C919 aircraft, while complying with airworthiness regulations.

Contact details from our directory:
COMAC Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. Airframer
Related aircraft programs:
COMAC C919