UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

RENTON, WASHINGTON 98057-3356 

In the matter of the petition of 

Exemption No. 11163 

Dassault Aviation Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2014-0887 

for an exemption from§ 25.809(a) of 

Title 14, Code ofFederal Regulations 

GRANT OF EXEMPTION 

By undated letter submitted to the Department of Transportation's Federal Docket Management 

System (at Regulations.gov) on October 24, 2014, Mr. Matthieu Amberg, Falcon 5X Program 

Certification Engineer, Dassault Aviation, 78, quai Marcel Dassault, Cedex 300, 92552 SaintCloud Cedex, France, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an exemption 

from the requirements of§ 25.809(a) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). This 

exemption, if granted, would permit relief from the requirement to provide a means of viewing 

the likely areas of evacuee ground contact prior to opening the door for the Type III overwing 

emergency exit on Falcon 5X airplanes. 

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation: 

Section 25.809(a), at Amendment 25-116, requires, in pertinent part, that each 

emergency exit be provided with a means to permit viewing of the likely areas of evacuee 

ground contact prior to opening the exit. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information: 

This section quotes the relevant information from the petitioner's request, with minor edits for 

clarity. The complete petition is available at the Department of Transportation's Federal Docket 

Management System, on the Internet at http://regulations.gov, in Docket No. FAA-2014-0887. 
Extent of Relief and Reason for Seeking Relief 

For the Falcon 5X aircraft type III overwing emergency exit (RH side), Dassault Aviation 

seeks a relief from part of§ 25.809(a), requiring the viewing ofthe likely areas of 

evacuee ground contact prior to opening the door. 

For this exit, the outside evacuation path follows a marked route on the wing box, from 

the overwing type III emergency exit to the leading edge and down to the ground, without 

requiring an assist means (thanks to the low height of the wing leading edge). 

Considering the outside viewing from the overwing exit window as well as from the 

adjacent window, the likely point of contact with the ground is masked by the wing box. 

A relief from the 14 CFR § 25.809(a) is necessary since the literal compliance to this 

requirement is not practical for overwing emergency exit configurations. 

In addition, Dassault Aviation understands that the intent in this rule was that it is not 

necessary for a person to be able to view the ground contact point while in position to 

open an overwing exit. And that the FAA is considering rulemaking to harmonize this 

requirement with EASA requirement CS 25.809(a)(3), at Amendment 25112, which limits 

the ground contact point visibility requirement to non-overwing passenger emergency 

exits only. 

CS 25 Arndt. 12- § 25.809(a)(3): For non-overwing passenger emergency exits, a means 

must also be provided to permit viewing of the likely areas of evacuee ground contact 

when the exit is closed with the landing gears extended or in any condition of collapse. 

Furthermore, the likely areas of evacuee ground contact must be viewable with the exit 

closed during all ambient lighting conditions when all landing gears are extended. 

Reasons why granting this request would be in the public interest 

Whereas Dassault Aviation is not an American aircraft manufacturer, its completion 

center, Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ) is a large American facility settled for a long time 

within the United States aircraft industry. In addition, as for all Dassault Aviation Falcon 

aircraft programs, the Falcon 5X program involves numerous US companies as aircraft 

systems and airframe and services suppliers. Falcon 5X business will increase the already 

established Falcon business which represents thousands of jobs over the United States. 

Denial of this petition would negatively impact the ability of the Falcon 5X to compete 

with other airplanes in the executive market, that have already been granted with exactly 

the same exemption. This will adversely impact the economy and employment of French 

and US companies, which would be against the public interest. Not granting this petition 

would force a major and unforeseen design and manufacturing effort necessary for the 

modification of the exit configuration. Such effort would not lead to a level of safety 

enhancement and would lead to delays in the business activity of the US citizens' Falcon 

customers as well as in the business between Dassault Aviation and its numerous US 

partners involved in the Falcon 5X project. 

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Granting this exemption would be in the interest of the public as the level of safety 

provided by the 5X design would be consistent with the intent of the rule. 

Reasons why granting the exemption would not adversely affect safety 

Since Amendment 25-116, the intention of§ 25.809(a), requesting the outside viewing 

means, is to enable an evacuee to ascertain whether to open an exit and whether it would 

be safe to evacuate through the exit, based on an assessment of the outside conditions. 

On Falcon 5X, the wide field of vision through the emergency exit window provides 

excellent situation awareness for occupants preparing to open the overwing emergency 

exit. Any hazard that would pose immediate threat to the occupant if the door is opened 

would surely be detected by observing through this window. This viewing means enables 

a safe opening of the door consistently with the intention of the rule. 

Any hazard at the point of contact with the ground would be detected by the evacuee from 

his safe station on the wing box. Granting an exemption would enable to propose the 

Falcon 5X with an overwing emergency exit configuration which meets the level of safety 

intended by the amendment 25-116 to regulation FAR§ 25.809(a). 

Additional Information 

Before opening the overwing type III emergency door, the evacuee will be able to observe 

the complete overwing surface, thanks to the window field of view and thanks to the 

outside emergency light required by§ 25.812(g)(l)(ii). 

During evacuation from the overwing exit, the evacuee located on the wing marked 

evacuation route, will be in a position to detect hazards that would threaten safety during 

the stepping down from the wing at the dedicated point. If the dedicated point of contact 

with the ground is not favorable, the evacuee will still be able to either: 

• Stop the cabin evacuation from the RH type III overwing exit and evacuate from 

the LH type 1 exit, or 

• Divert the evacuation path to slide from the wing to the ground further outboard. 

This being made possible by the outside emergency light which exceeds the level 

required by§ 25.812(g)(l)(ii) and by the low height ofthe wing leading edge 

which remains below 6 feet from the ground farther from the marked sliding 

point, even in adverse collapsed landing gear configurations. 

Operation Outside of the United States 

Falcon 5X aircraft will be operated all over the world by its US registered operators; 

therefore, Dassault Aviation requests to exercise the privileges of the exemption outside 

the United States. 

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Conclusion 

Considering on one hand the harmonization projected for FAA for CS 25.809(a) 

regulation with EASA regulation improved text, and on the other hand the exemptions 

already granted by FAA for similar overwing exit configuration, Dassault Aviation 

believes that granting this exemption petition will be in the public interest and will not 

adversely affect the safety of Falcon 5X passengers. 

Federal Register publication 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for waiving the requirement for Federal Register 

publication for public comment because the request is identical in all material respects to 

previously granted exemptions; the exemption, if granted, would not set a precedent; and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Dassault Aviation. 

The FAA's analysis 

The FAA has determined that there is not an adverse impact on safety if an occupant cannot 

simultaneously see conditions immediately outside the exit door and the ground-contact point. 

The impact of the regulation, as codified, went beyond what was envisioned in the rulemaking 

process for the overwing exits on some airplanes. 

On many overwing exits, the location where the evacuee makes first contact on the ground is a 

considerable distance from the point from which they exit the passenger cabin. The distance the 

evacuee moves either forward or aft on the wing upper surface, and then down to the ground 

either by escape slide, or by jumping off of the wing, or sliding down the leading or trailing edge 

of the wing, makes it impossible to see the ground contact point from inside the airplane because 

of the distance or the wing itself blocking the view. Some commenters to the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (Notice No. 96-9) made this point, and the FAA response was: 

With respect to the potential for the exit to be somewhat remote from the point where the 

evacuees would contact the ground, the FAA agrees that this may be the case. The intent 

of the requirement is to enable a person to ascertain whether to open an exit, and whether 

it is safe to evacuate through the exit, based on an assessment of the outside conditions. 

To the extent that the means used for determination of the former does not also allow an 

assessment of the ground, the FAA agrees that an additional viewing means may be 

necessary, and that the additional means may be somewhat remote from the exit. We 

have therefore reworded the amendment to allow for the dual purpose of the viewing 

means, and to distinguish the required locations of the two. 

Our intent in this rule was that it is not necessary for a person to be able to view the ground 

contact point while in position to open an overwing exit. The rule itself refers to the groundcontact view separately from the view of conditions outside the exit, but the intent of the rule was 

not clearly expressed in the rule language. The FAA worked with the European Aviation Safety 

Agency (EASA) to improve the rule language based on our experience applying this rule. EASA 

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incorporated the improved language in their Certification Specifications (CS) at amendment 

25112, dated July 13, 2012. CS 25.809(a)(3) states: 

For non-over-wing passenger emergency exits, a means must also be provided to permit 

viewing of the likely areas of evacuee ground contact when the exit is closed with the 

landing gears extended or in any condition of collapse. Furthermore, the likely areas of 

evacuee ground contact must be viewable with the exit closed during all ambient lighting 

conditions when all landing gears are extended. 

The FAA is considering rulemaking to harmonize this requirement with EASA. 

The FAA considers the petitioner's proposal to be in the public interest for the following reason. 

The proposed configuration provides a level of safety consistent with the intent of the rule. The 

petition proposes that the window does allow for outside viewing to assess the outside conditions 

prior to opening the exit. Then the evacuee can open the exit and step out onto the wing and 

move along the wing to assess the conditions where they would make first contact to the ground. 

At that point, if the conditions were not acceptable, evacuees would search for another location 

from which to exit off of the wing. To enforce literal compliance that is more stringent than our 

original intent for the rule would result in an unnecessary burden on the petitioner. 

The FAA's decision 

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. 

Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701 delegated to me 

by the Administrator, I grant Dassault Aviation an exemption from 14 CFR § 25.809(a) at 

Amendment 25-116. The exemption is granted to the extent necessary to allow Dassault 

Aviation to partially comply with outside viewing for the overwing Type III exit on the right side 

ofthe Falcon 5X airplanes. 

Specifically, the exemption allows viewing the first point of contact with the ground after the exit 

has been opened and the evacuee is on the upper surface of the wing on Dassault Aviation Falcon 

5X airplanes. Dassault Aviation must demonstrate compliance with all other requirements of 

14 CFR 25.809(a) at Amendment 25-116 for this airplane. 

Issued in Renton Washington, on JAN ·3 0 2615 

O~A~£ .. ' f/· -r' t! 

Jeffrey E. Duven 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate 

Aircraft Certification Service 

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