scope:

PURPOSE.

This notice provides guidelines to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) personnel and authorized Designated Engineering Representatives (DER) for approving field-loadable software (FLS). These guidelines are applicable to software data approvals related to type certificate (TC) approvals, amended type certificate (ATC) approvals, supplemental type certificate (STC) approvals, or Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorizations. Additional policy is being prepared to address the Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) process for software. This notice is for guidance purposes only and is supplemental to document RTCA DO-178B, "Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification," dated December 1, 1992.