Unable to cast COM object of type 'ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem.AoInitializeClass' to interface type 'ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem.IAoInitialize'

Error Message

Attempts to run an ArcGIS Engine app return the following error:

Error:   
Unable to cast COM object of type 'ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem.AoInitializeClass' to interface type 'ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem.IAoInitialize'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{someGUID}' failed due to the following error: Library not registered. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8002001D (TYPE_E_LIBNOTREGISTERED)).

Cause

The app is not declared as a Single Threaded Apartment (STA) app. This can occur if a new application is created in ArcGIS Engine without using the Esri-provided template.

Solution or Workaround

To resolve this issue, add an attribute at the top of the ArcGIS Engine app to declare it as a Single Threaded Application (STA). For example:

class Program
{
    private static LicenseInitializer m_AOLicenseInitializer = new EngineConsoleApp_ESRI.LicenseInitializer();

    [STAThread()]
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ....
    }
}