Software Considerations in Airborne Systems (DO-178C)

DO-178C is the certification standard for software in airborne systems, published by RTCA and mandated by the FAA and EASA. It defines five Design Assurance Levels (A through E) based on the consequence of failure. DAL A means a failure would be catastrophic. The rigor scales hard: DAL A requires MC/DC structural coverage, formal traceability from every requirement through code to test, and 71 distinct lifecycle objectives. DO-178C engineers work in a world with almost nothing in common with commercial software development. Compensation runs 25 to 40 percent above comparable commercial seniority because the talent pool is small. Roles where this matters: Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Quality, Certification.