Story ID: 
SaM146 Gains EASA Certification
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: The Powerjet SaM146 received its EASA certification yesterday, June 23, some six years after Snecma of France and Russia's NPO Saturn founded the joint ven
Word Count: 290
The Powerjet SaM146 received its EASA certification yesterday, June 23, some six years after Snecma of France and Russia's NPO Saturn founded the joint venture to build the engine and more than seven years after Sukhoi Civil Aircraft chose the engine to power the Superjet 100. Patrick Goudou, EASA's executive director, presented the type certificate to Powerjet chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Ebanga during a ceremony in Cologne, Germany, attended by Snecma chairman and CEO Philippe Petitcolin and Saturn chief executive Ilya Fedorov. 
 
Powerjet said it expects to receive certification from Russia's Avia Register “within a few weeks.” 
 
“This certification shows that the SaM146 engine fully complies with EU safety regulations,” said Goudou. “It is the culmination of a particularly successful collaboration [among] PowerJet, the Interstate Aviation Committee of Russia and EASA. It marks the first certification of an aircraft engine jointly designed and produced in France and in Russia.” 
 
“This is also a landmark in relations between the European and Russian aerospace industries,” said Ebanga. “We are now looking forward to seeing the SaM146 enter revenue service in the next few months.”
 
The SaM146 completed its certification tests on May 26, when it passed its final bird ingestion test. The SaM146 engine has logged 7,100 hours of testing, including 3,500 hours in flight.
 
During late May's Regional Airline Association Convention in Milwaukee, Ebanga reported that the company expects to build 12 production engines this year in Rybinsk, Russia, allowing Sukhoi Civil Aircraft to honor its commitment to deliver the first production Superjet 100s to Aeroflot and Armavia by year-end.