Reviewed by Anoop Rayavarapu, ASNT NDT Level III (UT, RT, MT, PT, VT). Updated October 2026.
EN 4179, “Aerospace series – Qualification and approval of personnel for non-destructive testing”, is the European aerospace standard for qualifying and approving NDT personnel. The current edition is EN 4179:2026, published in 2026 and replacing EN 4179:2021. It works through the employer’s written practice: the standard sets the minimum requirements for qualifying and certifying NDT personnel, and the written practice applies them to the employer’s own methods, products and customers.
Aerospace primes and their customers name the standard that applies in the purchase order or process specification, and a supplier working for both US and European primes may need to satisfy more than one set of requirements. For US-facing work, Atlantis builds aerospace written practices on ASNT SNT-TC-1A, aligned to the customer’s flow-down requirements and Nadcap AC7114; aerospace NDT certification requirements covers what those programmes carry.
Personnel are qualified per method at Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. The employer keeps a written practice that sets out how it qualifies and certifies them, documents the training and experience for each method and level, gives the examinations, checks vision, and keeps records an auditor can trace. The minimum figures and the detailed rules are in the standard itself, so work from the current edition rather than a summary.
Atlantis builds the recertification evidence the employer signs off. ASNT SNT-TC-1A-based aerospace NDT training gives documented method and refresher training records, which can form part of the file where the written practice allows it. ASNT NDT Level III consulting reviews the written practice, the vision and work records and the examination material before the cycle opens, and prepares the file for Nadcap AC7114 and customer audits. The employer recertifies under its written practice. For an EN 4179 programme, tell us what the programme needs and we reply within one business day.
The customer. The purchase order or the prime’s process specification states which standard applies to the work, and the employer’s written practice then applies it.
EN 4179:2026, which replaced EN 4179:2021. Check which edition your customer’s contract invokes, because a contract can name an earlier one.
Not on its own. SNT-TC-1A and EN 4179 are different documents, and aerospace personnel are qualified under the employer’s written practice to the standard the customer names. Training and experience records from SNT-TC-1A work can be part of the evidence where the written practice allows it.
Sources: EN 4179:2026 (EVS listing, valid from 16 February 2026, previous edition EN 4179:2021).
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