76734 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 

at a low state of charge. Replacement 

batteries must be of the same 

manufacturer and part number as 

approved by the FAA. Precautions 

should be included in the instructions 

for continued airworthiness 

maintenance instructions to prevent 

mishandling of the rechargeable lithium 

ion batteries and battery systems, which 

could result in short-circuit or other 

unintentional impact damage caused by 

dropping or other destructive means. 

Note 1: The term ‘‘sufficiently charged’’ 

means that the battery will retain enough of 

a charge, expressed in ampere-hours, to 

ensure that the battery cells will not be 

damaged. A battery cell may be damaged by 

lowering the charge below a point where 

there is a reduction in the ability to charge 

and retain a full charge. This reduction 

would be greater than the reduction that may 

result from normal operational degradation. 

Note 2: These special conditions are not 

intended to replace § 25.1353(b) at 

Amendment 25–113 in the certification basis 

of Boeing Model 777–200, –300, and –300ER 

series airplanes. These special conditions 

apply only to rechargeable lithium ion 

batteries and battery systems and their 

installations. The requirements of 

§ 25.1353(b) at Amendment 25–113 remain in 

effect for batteries and battery installations 

on Boeing Model 777–200, –300, and –300ER 

series airplanes that do not use rechargeable 

lithium ion batteries. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 10, 2013. 

John P. Piccola, Jr., 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–30232 Filed 12–18–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–1051; Notice No. 25– 

512–SC] 

Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc., 

Models BD–500–1A10 and BD–500– 

1A11 Series Airplanes; Seats With 

Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic 

Panels 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Bombardier Inc. Models 

BD–500–1A10 and BD–500–1A11 series 

airplanes. These airplanes will have a 

novel or unusual design feature 

associated with seats that include nontraditional, large, non-metallic panels 

that would affect survivability during a 

post-crash fire event. The applicable 

airworthiness regulations do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for this design feature. These special 

conditions contain the additional safety 

standards that the Administrator 

considers necessary to establish a level 

of safety equivalent to that established 

by the existing airworthiness standards. 

DATES: The effective date of these 

special conditions is December 19, 

2013. We must receive your comments 

by February 3, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number FAA–2013–1051 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to Docket 

Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, West 

Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 

comments to Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Privacy: The FAA will post all 

comments it receives, without change, 

to http://www.regulations.gov/, 

including any personal information the 

commenter provides. Using the search 

function of the docket Web site, anyone 

can find and read the electronic form of 

all comments received into any FAA 

docket, including the name of the 

individual sending the comment (or 

signing the comment for an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement can be 

found in the Federal Register published 

on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478), 

as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot 

.gov/. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

http://www.regulations.gov/ at any time. 

Follow the online instructions for 

accessing the docket or go to the Docket 

Operations in Room W12–140 of the 

West Building Ground Floor at 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alan Sinclair, FAA, Airplane and Cabin 

Safety Branch, ANM–115, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington, 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–2195; facsimile 

425–227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA 

has determined that notice of, and 

opportunity for prior public comment 

on, these special conditions are 

impracticable because these procedures 

would significantly delay issuance of 

the design approval and thus delivery of 

the affected aircraft. In addition, the 

substance of these special conditions 

has been subject to the public comment 

process in several prior instances with 

no substantive comments received. The 

FAA therefore finds that good cause 

exists for making these special 

conditions effective upon publication in 

the Federal Register. 

Comments Invited 

We invite interested people to take 

part in this rulemaking by sending 

written comments, data, or views. The 

most helpful comments reference a 

specific portion of the special 

conditions, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include 

supporting data. 

We will consider all comments we 

receive on or before the closing date for 

comments. We may change these special 

conditions based on the comments we 

receive. 

Background 

On December 10, 2009, Bombardier 

Inc. applied for a type certificate for 

their new Models BD–500–1A10 and 

BD–500–1A11 series airplanes (hereafter 

collectively referred to as ‘‘C-series.’’ 

The C-series airplanes are swept-wing 

monoplanes with a pressurized cabin. 

They share an identical supplier base 

and significant common design 

elements. The fuselage is aluminum 

alloy material, blended double-bubble 

fuselage, sized for nominal 5-abreast 

seating. Each airplane’s powerplant 

consists of two under wing Pratt and 

Whitney PW1524G ultra-high bypass, 

geared turbofan engines. Flight controls 

are fly-by-wire flight with two passive/ 

uncoupled side sticks. Avionics 

includes five landscape primary cockpit 

displays. The dimension of the 

airplanes encompass a wingspan of 115 

feet; a height of 37.75 feet; and a length 

of 114.75 feet for the Model BD–500– 

1A10 and a length of 127 feet for the 

Model BD–500–1A11. Passenger 

capacity is designated as 110 for the 

Model BD–500–1A10 and 125 for the 

Model BD–500–1A11. Maximum takeoff 

weight is 131,000 pounds for the Model 

BD–500–1A10 and 144,000 pounds for 

the Model BD–500–1A11. Maximum 

takeoff thrust is 21,000 pounds for the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 76735 

Model BD–500–1A10 and 23,300 

pounds for the Model BD–500–1A11. 

Range is 3,394 miles (5,463 kilometers) 

for both models of airplanes. Maximum 

operating altitude is 41,000 feet for both 

model airplanes. 

The interior arrangements of the Cseries airplanes will include passenger 

and cabin crew seats in the passenger 

cabin that incorporate non-traditional, 

large, non-metallic panels in lieu of 

traditional metal frame and foam/fabric 

components. 

The applicable airworthiness 

regulations, Title 14, Code of Federal 

Regulations (14 CFR) part 25, do not 

require seats to meet the more stringent 

flammability standards required of 

large, non-metallic panels in the cabin 

interior. At the time the applicable rules 

were written, seats were designed with 

a metal frame covered by fabric, not 

with large, non-metallic panels. Seats 

also met the then recently adopted 

standards for flammability of seat 

cushions. With the seat design being 

mostly fabric and metal, the 

contribution to a fire in the cabin had 

been minimized and was not considered 

a threat. For these reasons, seats did not 

need to be tested to heat release and 

smoke emission requirements. 

Seat designs have now evolved to 

occasionally include non-traditional, 

large, non-metallic panels. Taken in 

total, the surface area of these panels is 

on the same order as the sidewall and 

overhead stowage bin interior panels. 

To provide the level of passenger 

protection established by the 

airworthiness standards, these nontraditional, large, non-metallic panels in 

the cabin must meet the standards of 14 

CFR, part 25, appendix F, parts IV and 

V, heat release and smoke emission 

requirements. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, 

Bombardier Inc. must show that the Cseries airplanes meet the applicable 

provisions of 14 CFR part 25 as 

amended by Amendments 25–1 through 

25–129 thereto. 

If the Administrator finds that the 

applicable airworthiness regulations 

(i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for the C-series airplanes because of a 

novel or unusual design feature, special 

conditions are prescribed under the 

provisions of § 21.16. 

Special conditions are initially 

applicable to the model for which they 

are issued. Should the type certificate 

for that model be amended later to 

include any other model that 

incorporates the same or similar novel 

or unusual design feature, the special 

conditions would also apply to the other 

model under § 21.101. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the C-series airplanes must 

comply with the fuel vent and exhaust 

emission requirements of 14 CFR part 

34 and the noise certification 

requirements of 14 CFR part 36, and the 

FAA must issue a finding of regulatory 

adequacy under § 611 of Public Law 92– 

574, the ‘‘Noise Control Act of 1972.’’ 

The FAA issues special conditions, as 

defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in accordance 

with § 11.38, and they become part of 

the type-certification basis under 

§ 21.17(a)(2). 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The C-series airplanes will 

incorporate the following novel or 

unusual design features: 

These models offer interior 

arrangements that include passenger 

seats that incorporate non-traditional, 

large, non-metallic panels in lieu of the 

traditional metal frame covered by 

fabric. The flammability properties of 

these panels have been shown to 

significantly affect the survivability of 

the cabin in the case of fire. These seats 

are considered a novel design for 

transport category airplanes that include 

Amendment 25–61 and Amendment 

25–66 in the certification basis, and 

were not considered when those 

airworthiness standards were 

established. 

The existing regulations do not 

provide adequate or appropriate safety 

standards for seat designs that 

incorporate non-traditional, large, nonmetallic panels in their designs. In order 

to provide a level of safety that is 

equivalent to that afforded to the 

balance of the cabin, additional 

airworthiness standards, in the form of 

special conditions, are necessary. These 

special conditions supplement § 25.853. 

The requirements contained in these 

special conditions consist of applying 

the identical test conditions required of 

all other large panels in the cabin to 

seats with non-traditional, large, nonmetallic panels. 

Definition of ‘‘Non-Traditional, Large, 

Non-Metallic Panel’’ 

A non-traditional large panel, in this 

case, is defined as a panel with exposedsurface areas greater than 1.5 ft2

installed per seat place. The panel may 

consist of either a single component or 

multiple components in a concentrated 

area. Examples of parts of the seat where 

these non-traditional panels are 

installed include, but are not limited to, 

seat backs, bottoms and leg/foot rests, 

kick panels, back shells, credenzas and 

associated furniture. Examples of 

traditional, exempted parts of the seat 

include: Arm caps, armrest close-outs 

such as end bays and center consoles, 

food trays, video monitors and shrouds. 

Clarification of ‘‘Exposed’’ 

Exposed is considered to include 

those panels directly exposed to the 

passenger cabin in the traditional sense, 

plus those panels enveloped such as by 

a dress cover. Traditional fabrics or 

leathers currently used on seats are 

excluded from the special conditions. 

These materials must still comply with 

§ 25.853(a) and (c) if used as a covering 

for a seat cushion or § 25.853(a) if 

installed elsewhere on the seat. Large 

non-metallic panels covered with 

traditional fabrics or leathers will be 

tested without their coverings. 

Discussion 

In the early 1980s, the FAA 

conducted extensive research on the 

effects of post-crash flammability in the 

passenger cabin. As a result of this 

research and service experience, the 

FAA adopted new standards for interior 

surfaces associated with large surface 

area parts. Specifically, the rules require 

measurement of heat release and smoke 

emission (part 25, appendix F, parts IV 

and V) for the affected parts. Heat 

release has been shown to have a direct 

correlation with post-crash fire survival 

time. Materials that comply with the 

standards (i.e., § 25.853 Compartment 

interiors, as amended by Amendment 

25–61 and Amendment 25–66) extend 

survival time by approximately two 

minutes over materials that do not 

comply. 

At the time these standards were 

written, the potential application of the 

requirements of heat release and smoke 

emission to seats was explored. The seat 

frame itself was not a concern because 

it was primarily made of aluminum, and 

there were only small amounts of nonmetallic materials. It was determined 

that the overall effect on survivability 

was negligible, whether or not the food 

trays met the heat release and smoke 

requirements. The requirements 

therefore did not address seats. The 

preambles to both the Notice of 

Proposed Rule Making, Notice No. 85– 

10 (50 FR 15038, April 16, 1985) and the 

Final Rule at Amendment 25–61 (51 FR 

26206, July 21, 1986), specifically note 

that seats were excluded ‘‘because the 

recently-adopted standards for 

flammability of seat cushions will 

greatly inhibit involvement of the 

seats.’’ 

Subsequently, the Final Rule at 

Amendment 25–83 (60 FR 6615, March 

6, 1995) clarified the definition of 


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76736 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 

minimum panel size: ‘‘It is not possible 

to cite a specific size that will apply in 

all installations; however, as a general 

rule, components with exposed-surface 

areas of 1 ft2 or less may be considered 

small enough that they do not have to 

meet the new standards. Components 

with exposed surface areas greater than 

2 ft2 may be considered large enough 

that they do have to meet the new 

standards. Those with exposed-surface 

areas greater than 1 ft2, but less than 2 

ft2, must be considered in conjunction 

with the areas of the cabin in which 

they are installed before a determination 

could be made.’’ 

In the late 1990s, the FAA issued 

Policy Memorandum 97–112–39, 

Guidance for Flammability Testing of 

Seat/Console Installations, October 17, 

1997. That memo was issued when it 

became clear that seat designs were 

evolving to include large, non-metallic 

panels with surface areas that would 

impact survivability during a cabin fire 

event, comparable to partitions or 

galleys. The memo noted that large 

surface area panels must comply with 

heat release and smoke emission 

requirements, even if they were attached 

to a seat. 

If the FAA had not issued such 

policy, seat designs could have been 

viewed as a loophole to the 

airworthiness standards that would 

result in an unacceptable decrease in 

survivability during a cabin fire event. 

In October 2004, an issue was raised 

regarding the appropriate flammability 

standards for passenger seats that 

incorporated non-traditional, large, nonmetallic panels in lieu of the traditional 

metal covered by fabric. The Seattle 

Aircraft Certification Office and 

Transport Standards Staff reviewed this 

design and determined that it 

represented the kind and quantity of 

material that should be required to pass 

the heat release and smoke emissions 

requirements. We have determined that 

special conditions would be 

promulgated to apply the standards 

defined in § 25.853(d) to seats with 

large, non-metallic panels in their 

design. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the 

Bombardier Models BD–500–1A10 and 

BD–500–1A11 series airplanes. Should 

Bombardier Inc. apply at a later date for 

a change to the type certificate to 

include another model incorporating the 

same novel or unusual design feature, 

the special conditions would apply to 

that model as well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only certain novel 

or unusual design features on two 

model series of airplanes. It is not a rule 

of general applicability. 

The substance of these special 

conditions has been subjected to the 

notice and comment period in several 

prior instances and has been derived 

without substantive change from those 

previously issued. It is unlikely that 

prior public comment would result in a 

significant change from the substance 

contained herein. Therefore, because a 

delay would significantly affect the 

certification of the airplane, the FAA 

has determined that prior public notice 

and comment are unnecessary and 

impracticable, and good cause exists for 

adopting these special conditions upon 

publication in the Federal Register. The 

FAA is requesting comments to allow 

interested persons to submit views that 

may not have been submitted in 

response to the prior opportunities for 

comment described above. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25 

Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

The authority citation for these 

special conditions is as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 

44702, 44704. 

The Special Conditions 

Accordingly, pursuant to the 

authority delegated to me by the 

Administrator, the following special 

conditions are issued as part of the type 

certification basis for the Bombardier 

Inc. Models BD–500–1A10 and BD– 

500–1A11 series airplanes. 

Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, 

Non-Metallic Panels 

1. Compliance with Title 14 CFR part 

25, appendix F, parts IV and V, heat 

release and smoke emission, is required 

for seats that incorporate nontraditional, large non-metallic panels 

that may either be a single component 

or multiple components in a 

concentrated area in their design. 

2. The applicant may designate up to 

and including 1.5 ft2 of non-traditional, 

non-metallic panel material per seat 

place that does not have to comply with 

No. 1. A triple seat assembly may have 

a total of 4.5 ft2 excluded on any portion 

of the assembly (e.g., outboard seat 

place 1 ft2, middle 1 ft2, and inboard 2.5 

ft2). 

3. Seats need not meet the test 

requirements of 14 CFR part 25, 

appendix F, parts IV and V when 

installed in compartments that are not 

otherwise required to meet these 

requirements. Examples include: 

a. Airplanes with passenger capacities 

of 19 or less; 

b. Airplanes that do not have smoke 

and heat release in their certification 

basis and do not need to comply with 

the requirements of 14 CFR 121.312; 

and 

c. Airplanes exempted from smoke 

and heat release requirements. 

4. Only airplanes associated with new 

seat certification programs approved 

after the effective date of these special 

conditions will be affected by the 

requirements in these special 

conditions. Previously certificated 

interiors on the existing airplane fleet 

and follow-on deliveries of airplanes 

with previously certificated interiors are 

not affected. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 11, 2013. 

John P. Piccola, Jr., 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–30234 Filed 12–18–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–1054; Notice No. 25– 

513–SC] 

Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc., 

Models BD–500–1A10 and BD–500– 

1A11 Series Airplanes; Side Stick 

Controllers: Pilot Strength, Pilot 

Control Authority, and Pilot Control 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Bombardier Inc. Models 

BD–500–1A10 and BD–500–1A11 series 

airplanes. These airplanes will have a 

novel or unusual design feature 

associated with side stick controllers for 

pitch and roll control instead of 

conventional wheels and columns. The 

applicable airworthiness regulations do 

not contain adequate or appropriate 

safety standards for this design feature. 

These special conditions contain the 

additional safety standards that the 

Administrator considers necessary to 

establish a level of safety equivalent to 

that established by the existing 

airworthiness standards. 

DATES: The effective date of these 

special conditions is December 19, 


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