Merlin has achieved its second Stage of Involvement (SOI 2) milestone with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA NZ), progressing its certification pathway for autonomous flight technology.

SOI 2 represents a key step in the DO-178 certification audit process, giving regulators detailed visibility into software development programmes. The CAA NZ’s four-step process ensures that safety-critical software meets operability standards in flight and builds regulator confidence in the system’s design, execution and final product.

This milestone follows Merlin’s SOI 1 approval in May 2023, and advances its supplemental type certificate (STC) programme for the Cessna Grand Caravan 208B, which is under concurrent validation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). SOI 1 confirmed planning documentation, while SOI 2 signifies that around 50 percent of flight control computer software data has been formally reviewed.

“SOI 2 reflects the disciplined engineering and certification practices our team has put in place,” says Tim Burns, chief technology officer at Merlin. “Each stage of this process deepens regulator confidence, reduces programme risk and advances the Merlin Pilot toward certification and real-world operations.”