Assuring Safety and Quality in Future Advanced Aircraft

It is highly probable that the advanced air transport aircraft which will become available early in the next century will be hydrogen fueled. The use of hydrogen fuel will require designers, production personnel and aircraft operators to positively assure fuel system integrity. The safety, reliability, maintainability and quality assurance specialists in the manufacturers' organizations and in the operating air carrier organizations will be faced with unique problems in achieving fuel system integrity and assuring it throughout the operational life of the aircraft. The reasons why the use of hydrogen fuel in transport aircraft seems inevitable and some of the safety and quality problems which may be encountered, with some possible solutions, are described in this paper.