TABLE OF CONTENTS Airworthiness is often thought to mean little more than how safe an aircraft is to fly, rather than a more appropriate and specific definition such as: "safe to meet the operational needs of the user." [1] Attaining satisfactory airworthiness requires that conflicting design characteristics be balanced to enhance the level of safety inherent in an aircraft type and is a key factor in design. In the past, aircraft development tended to focus only on developing adequate aerodynamic performance and structural strength, with the by-product hopefully being a "safe" aircraft. Contemporary design practices, however, place airworthiness considerations alongside performance, operational effectiveness, reliability, maintainability, and economy all are important in determining the success of an in-service product. [2]
One of the earliest examples of airworthiness regulation was the 1916 publication of a pamphlet detailing design requirements for military aircraft during World War I by the Royal Aircraft Factory. And although this publication was little more than a list of strength requirements for early aircraft, it became the forerunner of the first British airworthiness regulations. In February 1940, the British Air Ministry formed the Joint Airworthiness Committee to collect all technical design instructions (including the derivations of the original 1916 document) into a single publication. This new document, rather than being prescriptive in its requirements, was to provide an unambiguous statement of the aim of each regulation rather than the detail of how the aim should be achieved. This approach of providing airworthiness regulations that state a required outcome, rather...
