Boston-based Merlin announced on August 6 that it reached the Stage of Involvement (SOI) 3 milestone with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAANZ) for two components of its Merlin Pilot autonomous flight system: the flight control computer and the automated communication system. Reaching SOI 3 means the regulator has reviewed and accepted the testing evidence for those two components, one stage short of final compliance. The CAANZ conducted the work in coordination with the FAA under a bilateral agreement; the two agencies jointly approved Merlin’s certification basis in 2021.

Separately, Merlin said it closed an issue paper covering machine-learning-based natural language processing within the CAANZ certification program—the capability that lets Merlin Pilot hold a voice conversation with air traffic control.

“This is significant as we’re not building experimental AI, but rather aviation-grade autonomy that performs full phase autonomy from takeoff to touchdown,” said Merlin chief technology officer Tim Burns.