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Summary

Petitioner: EMBRAER Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S/A

Section of the Regulation Affected: 14CFR §25.981(a )(3) amendment 102.

Description of Relief Sought: Embraer petition for a time-limited exemption from 14 CFR §25.981(a)(3) for the fuel pump installations o f EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) aircraft.GCF

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Embraer respectfully submits the enclosed petition for a time-limited exemption from the provisions of 14 CFR §25.981(a)(3) as they apply to the fuel pump installations of EMB135BJ (Legacy 650) aircraft.

Text of the Requirement for which exemption is soug ht

14 CFR §25.981(a)(3) “Fuel tank ignition prevention .”

“Demonstrating that, an ignition source could not r esult from each single failure, from each single failure in combination with each latent failure condition not shown to be extremely remote, and from all combinations of fail ures not shown to be extremely improbable. The effects of manufacturing variabilit y, aging, wear, corrosion, and likely damage must be considered.”

Background

It has proven impractical to demonstrate compliance with §25.981(a)(3) at amendment 102 in a timely manner due to certain EMB-135/145 f amily fuel system design concepts and practices initially proposed to be retained for the EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650). Embraer requests that this time limited exemption b e granted until practicable design solutions are identified, validated, and safely int egrated into the fuel system of the EMB135BJ (Legacy 650).

Some of design aspects that must be addressed by su bsequent modifications include, but may not be limited to:

• Each fuel pump wiring harness within a fuel tank n eeds an additional independent and robust layer of protection against ignition source producing faults. Consideration is being given to placing the harness completely within a robust conduit which protects the harness from fore seeable damage while protecting the tank vapor space from any foreseeabl e harness faults (i.e. conduit provides vapor/explosion proof barrier that won’t b e lost due to damage from any foreseeable harness fault);

• Fuel pump explosion proof features need to be made adequately fail-safe. Failures that are not extremely improbable have bee n identified which can cause loss of the pumps explosion containment capability. Fixes have been identified and are currently being validated;

Embraer offers the following justification in suppo rt of this exemption, as well as, substantiation as to why the current type design pr ovides an adequate level of safety forGCF

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the interim period of this exemption and why granti ng the time limited exemption is in the public interest, as required by 14 CFR §11.81.

Grounds Supporting Exemption

Embraer will certify and incorporate into the produ ction line of the EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) the modifications required to demonstrate comp liance with the requirements of §25.981(a)(3) at amendment 102 by September 30, 201 1.

Embraer will also retrofit the EMB-135BJ (Legacy 65 0) series airplanes delivered under the terms of this exemption by September 30, 2012.

These proposed dates are adequate considering that: - The number of the airplanes that will be delivere d within this period represents a negligible addition to the overall fleet risk.

- Some of the identified failure modes of concern r equire significant aircraft utilization and/or aging to develop into noncomplia nt failure conditions, and the timeframe proposed for this exemption is not suffic ient for the affected airplanes to accumulate the flight hours or cycles required for the components to exhibit these aging effects. - The fuel pump installations of the EMB-135BJ (Leg acy 650) have the same characteristics as the rest of the EMB-145 family f rom which it is derived. That EMB-145 family has accumulated more than 17 million flight hours without notable adverse experience relevant to the objectiv es of the 25.981(a)(3) requirement. - There are five EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) aircraft sc heduled to be delivered to U.S. customers through the end of 2011. The additio nal number of flight hours that will be accumulated by these EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) airplanes during the period of this exemption will be minimal due to that limited fleet size and the lower annual utilization typical of such business j ets. - The failure conditions of concern will be mitigat ed with the actions that are

described below:

The proposed mitigation actions for pump manufactur ing and assembly within this timelimited exemption application are the following:

- Additional dielectric strength test on the pump ha rness before final assembly to guarantee the proper wiring insulation.

- Torque verification of pump locking nuts at final inspection to guarantee the proper installation of the nut.GCF

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- Addition of polysulfide sealant all over the pump locking nuts to guarantee the closure of the gap between stud and cover and, cons equently, the explosion proof cavity.

- Additional cleaning task to guarantee the adhesion of potting to connector

counter bore.

- In addition to the already existing inspections, a detailed visual inspection performed by qualified quality inspector to guarant ee that the pump harness is installed according to the drawing to include:

o Clamp type (with yellow cushion)

o Clamp size

o Clamp alignment with the harness

o Correct number and location of clamps

o Harness slack properly distributed along the lengt h

o Harness clearance

The proposed limitation for pump maintenance within this time-limited exemption application is the following:

- Any maintenance action accessing the wing tanks co llector box or any auxiliary fuel tanks to perform any maintenance either on the fuel pump itself or other adjacent component or installation requires a detai led visual inspection and a functional check in accordance with the fuel system limitation task number

SMRD-1533 tasks 28-17-01-720-001-A01 and 28-50-01 -220-001-A01 by a qualified inspector in order to guarantee that the installation of the pumps are in

accordance with the Maintenance Manual instructions and illustrations.

The fuel system limitation task number SMRD tasks 2 8-17-01-720-001-A01 and 28-50- 01-220-001-A01 detailed inspections will include a GVI (General Visual Inspection) task number 28-41-00-200-801-A as part of the tank closu re procedure after a maintenance activity is performed. These fuel limitation tasks will be added to the Embraer maintenance planning guide (MPG) temporary revision (TR) 7.2, before certificate of airworthiness or first delivery whichever occurs la ter.

Fuel System Limitation Task Numbers as follows:GCF

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Issue of Public Interest

Denial of this petition for exemption would result in the delay in certification and delivery of the EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) to the United States (U.S.). While these airplanes are not manufactured in the U. S., a significant portio n of the airplane, including the engines, avionics, and interiors are manufactured b y U.S. suppliers. Denial of this exemption request would result in the loss of reven ue for the U.S. suppliers and have an adverse impact on the U.S. balance of trade, bot h of which are counter to the public

interest.

In addition, our U.S. customers have made fleet sch edule plans based on the agreedupon delivery schedule of these airplanes. To requ ire Embraer to modify these airplanes prior to service entry will unavoidably d elay delivery and have an adverse financial effect on these operators. This action w ould be counter to the public interest.

Request to Forego Publication in the Federal Regist er

Because this exemption petition is similar in both the technical and regulatory aspects addressed and the temporary relief sought to an exe mption that has been issued in the past (Exemption 8761C) and has received no public c omments, granting of this proposed exemption would not raise new issues or se t any legal precedent. In comparison to this previous exemption, this petitio n requests only 21 months (measured from January 1, 2011) to complete the identified mo difications and retrofitting the delivered airplanes. In addition, the previous exe mption was applicable to the entire fuel system, where in the case of the EMB-135BJ (Le gacy 650), the majority of the affected system has already been shown compliant wi th 14 CFR §25.981(a)(3) and the necessary modifications identified. Accordingly E mbraer requests that the FAA not delay granting of this exemption for publication of the petition summary in the Federal Register as allowed by 14 CFR §11.87.

Embraer has a contract with an U.S. operator to del iver the first EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) by end of December 2010. As described above i n the Public Interest section, a delay in delivery will adversely affect this operat or, forcing him to seek alternatives to his planned use of the airplane, e.g., cancel scheduled flights, charter alternative lift.

Embraer also notes that this petition was filed imm ediately after the identification of the non-compliance.GCF

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In summary, there exists the necessary justificatio n for forgoing publication of a petition summary in the Federal Register, and Embraer respec tfully requests that grant this petition without delay.

Effect of the Exemption on Safety

The entire EMB-145 family of aircraft have similar design features that could not be shown to comply with §25.981(a)(3) amendment 102. T here are 689 such aircraft currently operating safely within the U.S. fleet. S uch aircraft have been operating safely in the U.S. for over 14 years and are expected to c ontinue to do so for many years to come. Adding 5 additional aircraft expected to be d elivered until September, 30 th 2011,

with a similar level of risk to that fleet for less than two years will clearly have a negligible impact on safety.

Operations Outside the United States

As a manufacturer and not an operator, Embraer does not intend to operate outside the United States under the terms of the exemption whic h we are requesting, but our operators will certainly fly the EMB-135BJ (Legacy 650) internationally. The granting of this petition will not conflict with any of the ter ms of ICAO Annex 8, so the FAA will not need to file a difference with ICAO, as described i n 51 1.83.