HC Deb 13 June 2000 vol 351 cc549-50W
Mr. Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the (CAA)(a) requires manufacturers and operators to provide complete checklists, including emergency checklists, before granting an airworthiness certificate and (b) considers full authority digital engine control systems as flight safety critical. [125301]

Mr. Mullin

The CAA requires routine and emergency checklists to be provided by the manufacturers before a certificate of airworthiness is granted. These are included in the aircraft flight manual. Operators also have to produce emergency checklists but this is not related to the issue of the Certificate of Airworthiness.

The CAA considers full authority digital engine control systems with no manual back up systems to be flight safety critical. The process of certification ensures that the level of design assurance applied to the digital software of such systems is in proportion to the level of criticality.