South St. Paul, Minnesota-based Ballistic Recovery Systems Inc. (BRS), whose whole-aircraft emergency parachute systems have saved more than 200 lives, presented an update on recent company developments at a news conference at AirVenture on Monday. Among the highlights: BRS recently passed its Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) audit for compliance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for production of emergency aircraft parachute recovery systems.

"Passing a LAMA audit is a significant milestone for any firm dealing with the light sport industry," said BRS Vice President of Engineering Frank Hoffman. "It means we have the processes and people in place to make quality aviation products in a consistent manner."

BRS now has completed LSA recovery system installations for aircraft including the CZAW SportCruiser, Flight Design CTSW, Apollo Delta Jet, Aeroprakt A-22 FPNA, FK-9, AMD-601, P&A Aviation Quik Trike, P&M Aviation Quik GT450 Trike, EuroFox, Flight Design CTLS, and Apollo Fox.

BRS has also been actively developing products for heavier certificated aircraft. Its new 5000 series parachute canopy for certificated aircraft fully complies with ASTM Standard F2316, covering whole-aircraft emergency recovery systems "a milestone that differentiates us from any other manufacturer to date," according to Hoffman. Using this series of parachutes, the company plans to design recovery systems for very light jets and heavier piston-engine aircraft.

In quality control news, the company’s 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Mexico and the headquarters facility in South St. Paul have received ISO 9001:2000 certification. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) stamp of approval certifies that the headquarters’ facility meets or exceeds quality standards for "the design, manufacture assembly, and service of aerospace and safety products," and its Mexico facility as "maintaining and exercising systems which meet very stringent requirements" in its manufacturing and quality procedures.

Most impressively, Gary Moore, vice president of sales and marketing, announced the company’s products have now been credited with saving at least 213 lives. The latest saves came when the pilot of a Zenair CH 601 XL with one passenger onboard entered an unrecoverable spin. The pilot deployed the BRS parachute, and the aircraft safely dropped to earth. The occupants were uninjured, representing saved lives numbers 212 and 213. The aircraft suffered only repairable structural damage.

Since 1981, BRS has delivered more than 28,000 parachute systems worldwide, including 3,500 systems for certificated production aircraft such as the Cirrus Design SR20 and SR22.

Those interested in additional information can stop by BRS Booth 2017 in Exhibit Hangar B.