Seattle – Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. opened and started full operations of the Seattle Engineering Center (SEC) in Seattle, Washington, an engineering arm of its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. America Inc. The opening of a development center in Seattle enables Mitsubishi Aircraft to tap professional expertise on aircraft development and to accelerate the development of the MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet).
Mitsubishi Aircraft’s center opening ceremony was attended by numerous distinguished guests, including Jay Inslee, Washington State Governor; Masahiro Omura, Consul General of Japan in Seattle; and Lee Human, president, Aerospace Testing Engineering & Certification LLC (AeroTEC), one of the partner companies of Mitsubishi Aircraft. Present from Mitsubishi Aircraft were Hiromichi Morimoto, president; and Kenichiro Honda, vice president, SEC, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. America.
SEC will work with AeroTEC, which has extensive experience and expertise, to accelerate the MRJ’s conformity activities and provide prompt support for flight tests in the U.S. that are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2016 based at the Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake in Washington. SEC will be operated with approximately 150 members, including about 100 engineers recruited mainly in Seattle and about 50 engineers from Japan.
“Washington is honored to play a supporting role in the development of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet," Gov. Inslee said. "We are thankful to the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. for its investment in our state and are proud of the assistance we can provide in bringing this important aircraft to the worldwide market."
Mitsubishi Regional Jet is a family of 70-to-90-seat next-generation aircraft featuring the Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower engine and state-of-the-art aerodynamics to reduce fuel consumption, noise, and emissions, while offering top-class operational benefits, and a cabin designed for heightened passenger flying comfort with large overhead bins.
Source: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.