RTCA DO-160 — Standard

About the Standard

Scope title: environmental conditions and test procedures for airborne equipment

RTCA DO-160 is a standard published by RTCA, Inc. (RTCA). It publishes consensus standards for avionics; DO-160 and DO-178 are the most widely used.

See the other 3 codes from RTCA

Coverage areas

What Is RTCA DO-160?

RTCA DO-160 is the environmental qualification specification for equipment used on aircraft. For a device to be considered airworthy in aviation, its design must be shown to withstand the flight environment; DO-160 is the common language of that demonstration. The European counterpart, EUROCAE ED-14, carries the same text.

The text is arranged in sections and each section addresses one environmental factor: temperature and altitude, temperature variation, humidity, operational shock and crash safety, vibration, explosive atmosphere, waterproofness, fluid susceptibility, sand and dust, fungus, salt fog, magnetic effect, power input, voltage spike, audio frequency conducted susceptibility, induced signal susceptibility, radio frequency susceptibility, radiated RF emission, lightning, icing and electrostatic discharge.

complies with DO-160

Not all sections are applied to every item of equipment. The icing section is meaningless for a device inside a pressurised cabin; the lightning section may be critical for a device outside it. The set of sections and categories to be applied is defined in the equipment specification, and that specification comes from the customer.

Why Does This Standard Exist?

Fault tolerance in aviation is several orders of magnitude lower than in other sectors, and the reason is simple: maintenance cannot be performed in flight, equipment cannot be replaced and the consequence of a failure cannot be undone. The burden of demonstrating that equipment works in the flight environment is therefore very heavy.

The flight environment is surprisingly harsh and very different from conditions on the ground. Temperature outside the cabin falls to minus sixty degrees, pressure drops, moisture condenses, engine vibration is continuous, a lightning strike is a real possibility and the electromagnetic environment is crowded with the aircraft's own transmitters. DO-160 establishes a systematic qualification framework by addressing each of these factors in a separate section.

The category logic is the cleverest aspect of the standard. The same section defines different levels for different mounting locations. A single specification thus covers all aircraft types and all mounting locations; the equipment manufacturer declares the category in which it was qualified and the integrator assesses that declaration against its own mounting location.

The revision letter (D, E, F, G) changes the content of the sections, and this affects the usability of older reports. New revisions generally add new threats (new RF bands, new lightning levels) and update measurement methods. Which revision applies in a programme comes from the specification.

DO-160 is environmental qualification and DOES NOT COVER software and complex hardware. That side is addressed by DO-178C (software) and DO-254 (complex electronic hardware), which bring process assurance rather than testing. The certification file of an avionics unit carries the evidence of all three documents together.

Which Products Require It

Avionics hardware and in-cabin electronic systems
Aircraft electrical, lighting and power distribution components
Cabin entertainment, communication and connectivity equipment
Electronic payloads on unmanned aerial vehicles
On-board sensors, actuators and control units

Related Legislation and Schemes

It is used as environmental qualification evidence in EASA and FAA certification processes
It is the environmental specification referred to in TSO (Technical Standard Order) and ETSO approvals
On the software side RTCA DO-178C and on the complex electronic hardware side RTCA DO-254 are the complementary assurance documents
EUROCAE ED-14 is the equivalent publication in Europe
On the quality system side, AS/EN 9100 comes into play

How the Assessment Runs

1Reading the equipment specificationWhich sections are applied at which categories is taken from the customer specification. The laboratory cannot make that selection on its own.
2The test planThe order of sections, the operating modes of the equipment, the parameters to be monitored and the acceptance criteria are defined in a written plan.
3Functional reference measurementThe normal performance of the equipment is recorded before testing; later comparisons are made against it.
4Section-by-section qualificationEach section is applied at the relevant category level; the equipment is monitored in an operating state in most sections.
5The qualification reportThe sections applied, categories, levels, observations and any deviations are reported.

Neighbouring Standards and the Differences

MIL-STD-810
The military environmental specification. Both perform environmental qualification, but one is written for civil aviation and the other for military equipment, and their profiles differ.
RTCA DO-178C
Software life cycle assurance. It requires process evidence rather than testing; together with DO-160 it completes the file.
RTCA DO-254
Complex electronic hardware design assurance. It comes into play for units containing FPGAs and ASICs.
EUROCAE ED-14
The European equivalent of DO-160; it carries the same text.

What the Report Must Contain

To be usable, a report must carry the information below. An incomplete report may not be accepted in the supply chain or in an inspection even when its result is correct.

The section numbers applied and the category selected for each
The revision letter applied (D, E, F, G)
Equipment description, part number and software/hardware version
The operating modes during the test and the parameters monitored
Functional reference measurements and the post-test comparison
Deviations, observations and any application outside the specification

Commonly Confused Points

DO-160 certificate
The selection of sections and categories comes from the customer's equipment specification; if the laboratory makes that selection on its own, the report is not accepted.
It gets confused with MIL-STD-810: both are environmental specifications but one is written for civil aviation and the other for military equipment.
A report without a stated revision letter cannot be assessed; revisions change the content of the sections.
If the equipment is not operated during the test, intermittent faults remain invisible; the parameters monitored must be stated in the report.
DO-160 does not cover software and complex hardware; that side is addressed by DO-178C and DO-254.

Structure of the Code

Published by: RTCA DO
Serial number: 160
Part: without partition

Codes in the library without release year is kept. The current version changes over time; If the year is specified in your specification, that version is taken as basis, if not specified, the most current version is applied.

Scope

Test
EMC / EMI Testing
Battery Testing
Automotive Testing
Aerospace Testing
Standard-Based Tests
Vibration and Shock
Aerospace Testing
Environmental Testing

Related Tests and Services

Technical Requirements

Standard texts are copyright of the relevant organization; test condition, sample and acceptance criteria cannot be fitted here.

Basis: The RTCA DO-160 section headings and category logic; the EUROCAE ED-14 equivalence; the DO-178C and DO-254 references. The revision letter (D, E, F, G) changes the content of the sections and the levels are defined in the revision in force.

Technical requirements specific to your product, once we clarify the scope At offer stage shared in writing.

Related Standards

Frequently Asked Questions About RTCA DO-160

Which sections apply to us?

That depends on the equipment's mounting location in the aircraft and on the customer specification. A device inside a pressurised cabin and one outside it pass through different sets of sections and categories.

We have a MIL-STD-810 report — does it take the place of DO-160?

It does not. The profiles, categories and measurement approaches differ; a civil aviation file requires DO-160.

Do we have to do all the sections?

No, and you should not. Applying sections that are not needed inflates cost unnecessarily; the set to be applied comes from the specification and the sections not applied are justified in the report.

Is DO-160 enough for our software as well?

It is not. Software assurance falls under DO-178C and complex electronic hardware assurance under DO-254, and these require process evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this standard mandatory for my product?

Whether it is mandatory depends on the product group, the target market and the applicable legislation. Once you tell us your product and market, we clarify in writing whether this standard is required.

How long does the test process take?

Duration depends on the scope of the standard, the number of specimens and current capacity. The exact duration is shared, together with the specimen and scope details, at the quote stage.

Do you issue certification against this standard?

Which activity is carried out under which accreditation scope is separately confirmed at the application stage. Up-to-date scope information is published on our corporate page.

What happens if the standard I need is not here?

The library is based on a continuously growing inventory. If you cannot find the code you are looking for, you can send it through the quote form; we will assess the relevant scope and get back to you.