Report of the Second Forum of Aerospace NDT Boards

The second meeting of the European Forum of NANDTBs was held in Istanbul on 29 th June. The Australian NANDTB was represented. Istanbul, the venue, is a rare and individual city in which a modern economy co-exists with traditions and culture going back more than a thousand years. Turkish Airlines hosted the meeting and they went to extraordinary lengths to make the delegates welcome and to provide excellent meeting facilities in the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce building. It was at this meeting that the Turkish and Australian NANDTBs were formally accepted as full members of the Forum. Previously they were observers. For the Australian Board this was the most important item on the agenda.

Juan Anton was replaced by Ian Wyles as the EASA observer to the Forum. He stated that it was extremely significant that the Australian Board had sought and received full membership. He went on to say that there were hundreds of EASA approved organizations in tens of countries around the world and that EASA takes the view that the Forum will be most effective if it is inclusive to National Aerospace NDT Boards from outside of Europe.

Full members of the Aerospace NDT Board Forum now number 22. They are; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. There are also 5 observer members which are still developing their local Boards. These are Luxemburg, Malta, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia,

The operational documents and constitution have been agreed, so the general business of this meeting was to form working groups. These working groups are to undertake individual tasks to develop policy or procedures on the following subjects. On completion of the work, it would be presented to the full membership for adoption.

The subjects to be considered include:

• Grandfathering rights
• Finance
• EASA AMC 145 update
• EN 4179 interpretation
• Equivalence of qualifications
• Standardisation of training and approval of training centres
• Mutual recognition of Boards and persons approved under their jurisdiction

The Chairman, Patrick Auge from France, had some difficulty in confirming leaders of the various working groups. The progress of business will be greatly dependent on his direction and the members' commitment. Secretariat services are being provided by the European Federation for NDT and it now has a dedicated page for this Forum on its web site.

The attendance of the Australian delegate reinforced its intent to be an active participant in the Forum, and by doing so, remain in the mainstream of NANDTB activities. It also afforded the opportunity to compare its development to that of other members. From that perspective, and particularly with the advent of the Australian Board's web site with great assistance from CASA, the Australian Board compares very well indeed.

Patrick Auge has the task of keeping the work of the Forum moving along, and will need to monitor progress from the task groups closely. The schedule and venue for the next meeting is yet to be confirmed.

Photos from the Forum

(Click on a photo to bring up a larger image)

Delegates at the meeting venue, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce

Most of the delegates at the mid-day break

John Thompson (left), the Forum secretary, and Colin Hockings taking in an evening cruise on the Bosphorus