He (of TTTech) said TTTech was never informed by EASA of any alleged non-compliance, and insisted that certification was an on-going "iterative process".
Come in Spinner. Of course EASA wouldn't think that certificates from reputable companies would have been falsified - so why would they have any requirement to level any accusations of "non-compliance". Once put on the spot however, EASA had no choice but to come clean. Not that they (and Airbus) haven't been aware of all this finagling from the word go.
This one goes a lot further than just the A380, Aermacchi and Embraer. Costs of qualifying COTS software and COTS micro-chips are very considerable under the present system, both in dollar and "lost time" and contractual obligations terms. There's much corner-cutting, and
"nod is as good as a wink to a blind regulator" going on out there. This is but the tip of a large calving iceberg.
I know of two top investigative reporters that are now right onto this, including one with a Pulitzer under his belt already.
I hope Boeing is running "above board" with their commitments from TTTech and NordMicro.
This software qualifying scam might yet end up as the media news story and Pulitzer Prize winner of the year. You only have to look back at the great series of prize-winning analytical articles on the 737 rudder to see who might be interested (hint "B.A.").
Above all else it doesn't say a lot for the Austrian legal system or the EU generally. I wonder how many companies are headquartered in Austria just to avail themselves of the protection that that country's laws afford companies that operate on the fringes of aviation regulation?