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Does the FAA trust other countries agencies when certifying aircraft? Does the EASA do their own extensive testing and certification on Airbus planes, or Canada for Bombardaria, along with the FAA? Or has the US turned into some type of de-facto authority over all airplane certification (in they way the US FCC has for space satellite launches and tracking?)

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There are generally agreements between the various countries’ aviation certification authorities so that a system or aircraft is certified in the country of its design/manufacture and it is accepted in other countries. The harmonization of the rules between countries is always fun.

For example, I worked on a program where we certified the glass cockpit upgrade for the US Navy trainer, T-6A to T-6B with Transport Canada, the aircraft with the new avionics was certified by the FAA, and the whole system was then accepted by the US Navy. Satisfying all 3 stakeholders at the same time often proved difficult.

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