Indonesia develops aircraft component testing laboratory

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (locally known as Lapan) is developing an aircraft component testing laboratory to support the country’s aviation industry.

The laboratory which is currently in process is the DO-160 Lab which would later be used for testing aircraft components, the head of the institute Thomas Djamaluddin said in a virtual seminar on the Progress of Indonesian Space, on Friday (Aug. 6).

The facility will serve as a means to test components installed inside or outside the aircraft.

Tests on aircraft components must be carried out by the aircraft component industry in accordance with the CASR/FAR (Civil Aviation Safety Regulations/Federal Aviation Regulations) which are described in the form of the RTCA DO-160 standard.

RTCA DO-160 is an aircraft component testing standard that is recognized and used by the EUROCAE (European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment) in Europe and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the United States, as well as the Directorate of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations in Indonesia.

The D0-160 Lab will be equipped with 18 testing facilities for testing temperature and altitude, temperature variation, humidity, vibration test section, explosive proofness, waterproofness, sand and dust, salt spray, magnetic effect, and power input.

Other test sections are voltage spikes, audio frequency conducted susceptibility-power inputs, induced signal susceptibility, radio frequency susceptibility (radiated and conducted), emission of radio frequency energy, icing, electrostatic discharge, and fire and flammability.

The institute will seek to obtain ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for the laboratory.

Reporting by Indonesia Window