Honda Aircraft Company announced two significant milestones in the development of the world’s most advanced light jet. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the first Type Inspection Authorisation (TIA) certificate for the HondaJet and also has certified Honda Aircraft Company’s customer service facility as a Part 145 repair station on Dec. 20, 2013.
TIA is a pivotal point in the development and certification of a new aircraft. Nose-to-tail FAA review during this final testing phase will pave the way for HondaJet type certification and first customer deliveries to HondaJet customers.
“Achieving FAA Type Inspection Authorisation is a tremendous milestone for the HondaJet and a significant step toward type certification,” said Michimasa Fujino, president and CEO of Honda Aircraft Company. “We have successfully demonstrated through ground and flight testing that the HondaJet will meet certification requirements. We are now ready to begin the final stage of certification flight testing with FAA pilot participation.”
“We have been working closely with the FAA to finalise our certification schedule for the HondaJet,” said Fujino, “Based on the recent FAA type certification of the HF120 turbofan engine and this TIA milestone achievement, we can expect aircraft type certification in the first quarter of 2015 with deliveries following immediately after.”
The Honda Aircraft customer service facility is located in Greensboro, N.C. The FAA Part 145 certification will initially enable this facility to perform component-level repairs and will then expand in 2014 to include heavy aircraft maintenance and major repair services to complement the HondaJet dealer network.