A Technical Standard Order (TSO) is a minimum performance standard issued by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

for specified materials, parts, processes, and appliances used on

civil aircraft Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

. Articles with TSO design approval are eligible for use on the United States

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

products by following a much lighter process than similar non-TSO approved part, provided the TSO standard meets the aircraft requirements. The TSO authorization (also called TSOA) or a letter of TSO Design Approval does not necessarily convey approval for installation. See 14 CFR Part 21 Subpart O. Similar standards are maintained by other aviation authorities. For example European Technical Standard Order (ETSO) by

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...

for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, with limited reciprocal equivalence on a per-country basis.https://www.easa.europa.eu/system/files/dfu/TSOA-ETSOA-Reciprocal-Acceptance-FAQs.pdf

References

External links

FAA page on Technical Standard Orders

What is TSO? TSO FAQ.
Avionics Aviation licenses and certifications Federal Aviation Administration {{aviation-stub

See also

References

External links