Aviation SME and VDA member Aquila Engineering has become just the third company in Australia to successfully achieve CASA Subpart 21.J Approved Design Organisation (ADO) accreditation.
Subpart 21.J ADO is progressively being rolled out by CASA across the aviation industry and will be the future of design approval; aligning with Australian Defence Force DASR, EASA and FAA regulatory frameworks.
Jenny Marshall, Aquila Engineering General Manager, said the company has invested considerable time and effort to achieve this important milestone.
“This is a significant achievement for a small privately-owned company,” Marshall said.
“Our goal was to be at the forefront of small to medium Australian enterprises to make the transition from Part 21M approved persons to being a fully accredited ADO. We’re very proud of this accomplishment.”
Aquila’s Head of Design, Mr Ben Terrell, said it is a big achievement for a small company to be the third company in Australia behind Qantas and Lufthansa to achieve accreditation.
“This aligns our engineering processes and staff training needs with the work we are doing for the Australian Defence Force (DASR), so it is a natural fit,” Terrell said.
In 2017, Aquila Engineering was contracted to provide in-country engineering and logistics support for the Royal Australian Air Force’s new Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft, building on its work on the PC-9 training fleet.
Backed by its technical workforce skilled in structural, mechanical, avionics and systems engineering, Aquila Engineering is now well-positioned to support the aviation industry in the transition to the new CASA Subpart 21.J regulatory framework.
