The Airworthiness Certification of Concorde 710756

The certification of the Concorde SST has presented a new challenge to the manufacturers and to the certification authorities in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States of America. Apart from the need to ensure, for an advanced type of civil aircraft, a level of airworthiness at the time of entry into service at least as good as current subsonic jets, many new technical and administrative problems have had to be dealt with. For the first time in aeronautical history the certification authorities from three nations, together with an integrated organization of four manufacturers (British Aircraft Corporation, Aerospatiale, Rolls-Royce, and Snecma) in two countries, have been involved in the drafting and application of new requirements for a new type of aircraft.

The main problems, both technical and administrative, are dealt with in this paper, together with a brief reference to the current status of Concorde Certification.