76254 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

assets required for safe flight and 

operations. 

■ 2. The applicant must establish 

appropriate procedures to allow the 

operator to ensure that continued 

airworthiness of the aircraft is 

maintained, including all post type 

certification modifications that may 

have an impact on the approved 

electronic system security safeguards. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on October 

22, 2013. 

Stephen P. Boyd, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–29986 Filed 12–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0899; Notice No. 

25–13–15–SC] 

Special Conditions: Airbus, Model 

A350–900 Series Airplane; Control 

Surface Awareness and Mode 

Annunciation 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes special 

conditions for the Airbus Model A350– 

900 series airplanes. These airplanes 

will have a novel or unusual design 

feature(s) associated with control 

surface awareness and mode 

annunciation provided by the electronic 

flight control system. The applicable 

airworthiness regulations do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for this design feature. These proposed 

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: Send your comments on or 

before January 31, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number FAA–2013–0899 

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: Joe 

Jacobsen, FAA, Airplane and Flightcrew 

Interface Branch, ANM–111, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington 98057–3356; 

telephone (425) 227–2011; facsimile 

(425) 227–1320. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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 proposed 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 August 25, 2008, Airbus applied 

for a type certificate for their new Model 

A350–900 series airplane. Later, Airbus 

requested and the FAA approved an 

extension to the application for FAA 

type certification to June 28, 2009. The 

Model A350–900 series has a 

conventional layout with twin wingmounted Rolls-Royce Trent XWB 

engines. It features a twin aisle 9-abreast 

economy class layout, and 

accommodates side-by-side placement 

of LD–3 containers in the cargo 

compartment. The basic Airbus Model 

A350–900 series configuration will 

accommodate 315 passengers in a 

standard two-class arrangement. The 

design cruise speed is Mach 0.85 with 

a Maximum Take-Off Weight of 602,000 

lbs. Airbus proposes the Model A350– 

900 series to be certified for extended 

operations (ETOPS) beyond 180 minutes 

at entry into service for up to a 420- 

minute maximum diversion time. 

These proposed special conditions for 

control surface awareness, applicable to 

Airbus Model A350–900 series 

airplanes, propose suitable flight control 

position annunciation and control 

system mode of operation to be 

provided to the flight crew when a flight 

condition exists in which nearly full 

surface authority (not crewcommanded) is being utilized. 

Suitability of such a display must take 

into account that some pilot-demanded 

maneuvers (e.g., rapid roll) are 

necessarily associated with intended 

full performance, which may saturate 

the surface. Therefore, simple alerting 

systems, which would function in both 

intended or unexpected control-limiting 

situations, must be properly balanced 

between needed crew awareness and 

nuisance features. A monitoring system 

that might compare airplane motion and 

surface deflection, and pilot side stick 

controller (SSC) demand could be useful 

for elimination of nuisance alerting. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under Title 14, Code of Federal 

Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17, Airbus must 

show that the Model A350–900 series 

meets the applicable provisions of 14 

CFR part 25, as amended by 

Amendments 25–1 through 25–129. 

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 Model A350–900 series because 

of a novel or unusual design feature, 

special conditions are prescribed under 

§ 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 proposed 

special conditions would also apply to 

the other model under § 21.101. 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2013 / Proposed Rules 76255 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the Model A350–900 series 

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, under § 11.38, 

and they become part of the typecertification basis under § 21.17(a)(2). 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The Airbus Model A350–900 series 

will incorporate the following novel or 

unusual design features: electronic 

flight control system providing control 

surface awareness and mode 

annunciation to the flightcrew. 

Discussion 

With a response-command type flight 

control system and no direct coupling 

from cockpit controller to control 

surface, the pilot is not aware of actual 

surface position utilized to fulfill the 

requested demand. Some unusual flight 

conditions, arising from atmospheric 

conditions and/or airplane or engine 

failures, may result in full or nearly full 

surface deflection. Unless the flightcrew 

is made aware of excessive deflection or 

impending control surface limiting, 

piloted or auto-flight system control of 

the airplane might be inadvertently 

continued in such a manner to cause 

loss of control or other unsafe stability 

or performance characteristics. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these proposed 

special conditions apply to Airbus 

Model A350–900 series airplanes. 

Should Airbus apply later for a change 

to the type certificate to include another 

model incorporating the same novel or 

unusual design feature, the proposed 

special conditions would apply to that 

model as well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only certain novel 

or unusual design features on the Airbus 

Model A350–900 series airplanes. It is 

not a rule of general applicability. 

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 Proposed Special Conditions 

Accordingly, the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) proposes the 

following special conditions as part of 

the type certification basis for Airbus 

Model A350–900 series airplanes. 

■ 1. Current airworthiness standards do 

not contain adequate safety standards 

for the proposed design. In addition to 

the requirements of §§ 25.143, 25.671 

and 25.672, the following proposed 

special conditions apply: 

■ a. The system design must ensure that 

the flight crew is made suitably aware 

whenever the primary control means 

nears the limit of control authority. 

Note: The term ‘‘suitably aware’’ 

indicates annunciations provided to the 

flight crew that are appropriately 

balanced between nuisance and that are 

necessary for crew awareness. 

■ b. If the design of the flight control 

system has multiple modes of operation, 

a means must be provided to indicate to 

the crew any mode that significantly 

changes or degrades the normal 

handling or operational characteristics 

of the airplane. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on October 

22, 2013. 

Stephen P. Boyd, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–29988 Filed 12–16–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. USCG–2013–0926] 

RIN 1625–AA09 

Drawbridge Operation Regulation; New 

Jersey Intracoastal Waterway, 

Barnegat Bay, Seaside Heights, NJ 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to 

temporarily change the operating 

schedule that governs the S37 Bridge, at 

NJICW mile 14.1 over Barnegat Bay, at 

Seaside Heights, NJ. Over the span of 

two and half years, the bridge will be 

closed to navigation for three fourmonth closure periods. Extensive 

replacement of parts and repairs to the 

bridge necessitate these closures. 

DATES: Comments and related material 

must reach the Coast Guard on or before 

February 18, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by docket number USCG– 

2013–0926 using any one of the 

following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

(2) Fax: 202–493–2251. 

(3) Mail or Delivery: Docket 

Management Facility (M–30), U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. Deliveries 

accepted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except federal 

holidays. The telephone number is 202– 

366–9329. 

See the ‘‘Public Participation and 

Request for Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below for instructions on submitting 

comments. To avoid duplication, please 

use only one of these four methods. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions on this proposed 

rule, call or email Jim Rousseau, District 

Five Prevention Bridges, the Coast 

Guard; telephone 757–398–6557, email 

James.L.Rousseau2@uscg.mil. If you 

have questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, call Renee V. 

Wright, Program Manager, Docket 

Operations, telephone 202–366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Acronyms 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FR Federal Register 

NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

§ Section Symbol 

U.S.C. United States Code 

NJDOT New Jersey Department of 

Transportation 

A. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

We encourage you to participate in 

this proposed rulemaking by submitting 

comments and related materials. All 

comments received will be posted, 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. 

1. Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

proposed rulemaking (USCG–2012– 

0926), indicate the specific section of 

this document to which each comment 

applies, and provide a reason for each 

suggestion or recommendation. You 

may submit your comments and 

material online http://

www.regulations.gov, or by fax, mail or 

hand delivery, but please use only one 

of these means. If you submit a 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS