Aero Engineers Australia

It is the largest civil aircraft design organisation in the Asia Pacific region and is now headquartered in Adelaide.

AEA was established by Graham Swannell in Perth in 1978 in order fill the gap in airworthiness people authorised to approve the design of modifications and repairs in Western Australia.

Originally starting with a few desks in a part-owned hangar at Jandakot Airport, the practice grew and moved to its current location at 1 Eagle Drive in 1990.

The families and employer of the victims are suing the Civil Aviation Safety Authority though AEA, as many of the other companies involved have since ceased trading.

It was developed to cope with the harsh Australian conditions and unprepared dirt strips but still deliver a 180 kn cruise, almost 1000 nmi range and economical performance.

[7] Under Civil Aviation Regulation 42U (CAR42U),[8] any modification or repair that is carried out on an Australian aircraft must be done in accordance with 'approved data'.

If the design has been shown to meet the airworthiness requirements it may be approved under Civil Aviation Regulation 35 (CAR35) and is hence 'approved data', satisfying CAR42U.