U,S,Department

of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 

### April 20, 2010

Mr. Karl Scuring Managing Director The Leading Edge Group, LLC 3425 Carillon Point Kirkland, WA 98033

Dear Mr. Seuring: Transport Airplane Directorate 1601 Lind Avenue, SW. Renton, Washington 98057-3356



### Wehave received your petition postings to theFederal Docket Management System, dated variously inMarch 2010, petitioning forexemption regarding auxiliary fuel-system installations on avariety ofairplane makes and models. Your petitions forexemption arc entered into thedocket numbers listed below.

Federal Tank Airplane Model FAA Docket No. Docket STC No. Serial Nos. Configuration post date DC8-62 FAA-2010-0309 3/5/2010 SA936NE 18990,19148, 1,2, & 3 19260,19261, 8727-100 FAA-2010-0330 3/25/2010 SA62NE 19262,19318, 19394,19535 & 20046 8737-500 FAA-2010-0331 3/25/2010 ST01337NY-D 8737-400 FAA-2010-0332 3/25/2010 SA725NE 8727-200 FAA-2010-0334 3/25/2010 SA450NE DC9-33 FAA-201 0-0335 3/25/2010 ST00605NY 21113,20641, 21068,21474, 8727-200 FAA-2010-0337 3/25/2010 SA496NE 21595,21824, 21948,22536, 22537 & 22359 8727-200 FAA-2010-0338 3/25/2010 SA530NE 8727-200 FAA-2010.-Q341 3/25f2010 SA84NE 8727-100/200 FAA-2010.-Q344 3/2512010 SA387NE 18326,18800 & 22043 8737-300 FAA-2010.-Q348 3/25/2010 SA714NE 24095 8737-200 FAA-2010.-Q349 3/2512010 SA1078NE

### 2

Federal Tank Airplane Model FAA Docket No. Docket STC No. Serial Nos. Configuration post date 8737-500 FAA-2010-0351 3/25/2010 STOOO40NY 8727-100 FAA-2010-0352 3/25/2010 STOO466NY 19254 & 20327 727-100 

# IFAM010·0422 4/14/2010 SA392NE 20489 737-200 FAA-2010-0420 4/14/2010 SA83NE 22431 & 22628 737-300 FAA-2010-0419 4/14/2010 SA542NE 27924 737-269 FAA-201 0-0421 4/14/2010 SA1265NE 21206 

### Your petitions request relieffrom Title 14, Code ofFederal Regulations (14 CFR) part 26, section 26.47(c) &(e)(2), to allow the installation ofauxiliary fuel systems in airplanes customized forprivate and/or head-of-state service. Your petitions have been added topublic docket numbers indicated inthe table above. However, before we begin processing yourpetitions, we require more information. Please address all sub-parts of 14CFR 11.81 not addressed inmany ofyour initial petition submissions, particularly: (d) The reasons why granting yourrequest would beinthe public interest; that is, how itwould benefit the public as awhole; (e) Thereasons why granting the exemption would not adversely affect safety, or how the exemption would provide alevel ofsafety atleast equal tothat provided by the rule fromwhich you seekthe exemption; (f) Asummary we canpublish inthe Federal Register, stating: (1) 

### The rule from\vhich you seek the exemption; and (2) Abrief description ofthe nature ofthe exemption you seek; (g) Any additional infonllation, views or arguments available tosupport your request; and (h) Ifyouwant to exercise the privileges ofyour exemption outside the United States, thereason why you need to do so. Section 26.47contains requirements fordeveloping damage-tolerance data for alterations and repairs to alterations. Section 26.49 requires acompl1ance plan for §26.47. The data required by these part26 regulations arenecessary to support operator compliance with the Aging Airplane Safety Final Rule (AASFR). For the AASFR, 14CFR 121.1109 and 129.109 state Ihat, after December 20, 2010, a certificate holder operating under parts 121 and 129, respectively, may not operate an airplane unless:

...the certificate holder's maintenance program forthe airplane includes FAAapproved damage tolerance inspections (DTI) andprocedures for airplane structure susceptible to fatigue cracking that could contribute to catastrophic failure and a3

means for addressing the adverse effects repairs, altcrations, and 

### modifications may have on fatigue critical structure and on damage tolerance inspections. For operators to fully comply with these requirements, 

### itis necessary for design approval holders (DAH) to fulfill the Damage Tolerance Data for Repairs and Alterations requirements of 

### §§ 26.43, 26.45, 26.47, and 26.49. In the case of both domestic and foreign government and commercial operators, the FAA 

### must seeevidence such as written notification that the operators do not intend to adopt the maintenance requirements specified in 

### § 121.1109. We suggest that the DAH also prc-sent its 

### rationale forwhy it

### believes these affected airplanes, and those airplanes currently operated unde:r parts other than 121 or 129. are unlikely (based on the age and configuration of the aill'lane and any other information the DAH believes to be relevant) to return to part 121 or 129 operations. Consider requesting exemption from both 

### §§ 26.47 and 26.49, or explain why you seek exemption only from 

### § 26.47(c) and (e)(2). ' For an example of a comprehensive petition submission, refer to docket no. FAA-2009-0040 in www.regulations.gov. Note that some of the petitions you submitted to the Federal Docket (e.g., docket nos. FAA2010-0341, FAA-20 10-0348, etc.) are incomplete, apparently having been truncated due to transcription into the 2000-character-limited "Type Comment" field of the "Submit a Comment" section in regulations.gov. For file submissions in response to this infom1ation request, please see the attached document, "How to Upload Information Relevant to an Existing Docket Number in Regulations.gov." To expedite your exemption request, and rather than submitting 18revised petitions, consider grouping all the STCs requiring exemption from 

### § 26.47 (and 

### § 26.49 if you choose to request exemption from that also) into one petition, using the table format provided in this letter. As part of your reply, please complete the empty cells (serial nos., tank configurations) in the above table. You may upload your condensed request to www.regulations.gov.using the table form provided above, to docket number FAA-20 10- 0309 per the process referenced in the previous paragraph. We will advise you of our final decision on your petition as soon as possible, and after receiving the additional infonnation. We will hold the docket open for 30 days awaiting this infOlmatiol1. Ifwe do not receive aresponse in 30 days we will close the docket. If you have questions in the meantime, you may call Ian Won at (425) 227-2145, e-mail ian.won@faa.gov. Sincerely,

Franklin Tiangsing Manager, Airframe and Cabin Safety Branch Transport Standards Staff Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service

## How to Upload Information Relevant to an Existing Docket Number in 

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### days, pending approval. The Federal Register manages file uploads to maintain an accurate system and eliminate irrelevant submi;:;sions.