NASA recently released NASA-STD-7919.1, NASA Commercial Aviation Services (CAS) Standard, which provides the technical requirements for commercial aircraft flight operations. It is effective as of July 10, 2024.

NASA-STD-7919.1 addresses CAS safety risks, simplifies guidance for NASA and commercial aircraft providers, and meets agency mission and safety requirements. It standardizes requirements using a “OneNASA” approach for both center aircraft operations offices and CAS providers. It also aligns with the CAS standards that NASA centers already had in place.

The Aerospace Advisory Panel (ASAP) identified CAS as a top agency-level safety risk in its ASAP Annual Report for 2018, which stated: “Contract Air Services (CAS) [sic] operations has [sic] been identified as a top Agency-level safety risk directly related to lack of manpower, expertise, and clear policy guidance on CAS conduct of operations and contractor oversight.”

NASA acquires CAS to include federally funded aviation activities in support of NASA public and civil use aircraft operations for the NASA programs and projects that use aircraft. NASA-STD-7919.1 outlines the technical requirements for aircraft airworthiness, operations, maintenance, aviation management and Aviation Safety. It is a companion to NPR 7900.3, Aircraft Operations Management, and provides each NASA program, project, and aircraft operation with specific technical requirements and assessment methods to assure compliance.

The body of the standard outlines common technical requirements for all vendors. Seventeen additional appendices detail specific operational and technical requirements based on mission needs. The standard identifies considerations for determining the adequacy of work performed and documentation approaches to address associated compliance.

The standard reflects input from the CAS Working Group that includes individuals from multiple NASA Headquarters offices, six NASA centers with commercial aviation services and several contributing contractors.

Questions about NASA-STD-7919.1 can be directed to the applicable center’s aircraft flight operations office.