Boeing

The Boeing Company has received an Organizational Designated Airworthiness Representative (ODAR) delegation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to support its MD-17 Type Certification program. The delegation was applied for in December 1996, and was presented on Aug. 14 to Bonnie Soodik, vice president of Product Assurance and Services.

"This is the first official delegation from the FAA to be received by the Boeing Aircraft and Missile Systems division, and is believed to be the only ODAR delegation to be awarded to an aircraft manufacturing unit that does not yet have an FAA production certification," said Terry Lussier of Product Assurance and Services.

U.S. Air Force aircraft do not require FAA certification, since they are authorized to operate by the Department of Defense. The MD-17, being a commercial aircraft, will require FAA certification.

Having an ODAR delegation means that authorized employees can perform conformity inspections of parts and aircraft components on behalf of the FAA. Monitoring and oversight will be conducted by the FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office in Lakewood, Calif. Doug Deusterman will be the ODAR administrator for Boeing in Long Beach.

The final result will be an MD-17 aircraft that is fully certified to operate as a heavy, outsized commercial freight hauler.

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