National Aerospace Standard

NAS410

Aerospace NDT Inspection Requirements

A Certified History of Excellence

For many years, aerospace and defense related military or government contracts required NDT personnel qualifications in accordance with MIL-STD-410. It was replaced in the 1990s by the NAS410 standard.

NAS410 was initially published in May 1996. Revision 1 was issued in June 2002. Revision 2 was issued in February 2003 and introduced significant changes in training for Liquid Penetrant and Magnetic Particle personnel. Training for each of these methods was increased to 16 hours each for Level 1 and Level 2 for a total of 32 hours for Level 2 qualification. Additionally, Revision 2 changed the recertification period for Level 1 and 2 from three (3) years to five (5) years.

NAS410 Revision 3 was issued in March 2008 which completely revised the standard and was considered technically equivalent to the European standard EN 4179 entitled Qualification and Approval of Personnel for Non-destructive Testing.

NAS410 Revision 4 was issued in December 2014 and reduced the experience hours for Level 1 and 2 for Eddy Current , Radiography and Ultrasonics by 50 percent. Additionally, Radiography was split into Film and Non-Film methods of NDT.

NAS410 Revision 5 (current revision) was issued in September 2020 and added requirements for the specific examination to be administered after a minimum of 75% of the experience hours are accumulated and the practical examination administered after 100% of the experience hours are accumulated.

Table 1 and Table 2 provide training and experience requirements for Level 1 & 2 personnel.

Table 1 — Minimum Formal Training Hours

Method

Level 1 Level 2 w/ Level 1 Cert Level 2 w/o Level 1 Cert

Eddy Current (ET)

40
40
80

Liquid Penetrant (PT)

16
16
32

Magnetic Particle (MT)

16
16
32

Radiography (RT) Film or Non-Film

40
40
80

Radiography (RT) Film & Non-Film

60
60
120

Ultrasonics (UT)

40
40
80
Level 1
Level 2 with Level 1 Cert
Level 2 without Level 1 Cert
Table 2 – Minimum Trainee Experience Requirements

Method

Level 1 Level 2 w/ Level 1 Cert Level 2 w/o Level 1 Cert

Eddy Current (ET)

200
600
800

Liquid Penetrant (PT)

130
270
400

Magnetic Particle (MT)

130
400
530

Radiography (RT) Film or Non-Film

200
600
800

Radiography (RT) Film & Non-Film

220
780
1000

Ultrasonics

200
600
800
Level 1
Level 2 with Level 1 Cert
Level 2 without Level 1 Cert

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