17312 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

processed as defined in Federal Motor 

Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) part 

571.214, section S6.13.5. 

(4) Pelvis: Pelvic lateral acceleration 

must be shown by dynamic test or by 

rational analysis based on previous 

test(s) of a similar seat installation to not 

exceed 130g. Pelvic acceleration data 

must be processed as defined in FMVSS 

part 571.214, section S6.13.5. 

(5) Shoulder Strap Loads: Where 

upper torso straps (shoulder straps) are 

used for occupants, tension loads in 

individual straps must not exceed 1,750 

pounds. If dual straps are used for 

restraining the upper torso, the total 

strap tension loads must not exceed 

2,000 pounds. 

b. General Test Guidelines 

(1) One longitudinal test with the SID 

ATD or its equivalent, un-deformed 

floor, no yaw, and with all lateral 

structural supports (armrests/walls). 

Pass/fail injury assessments: TTI and 

pelvic acceleration. 

(2) One longitudinal test with the 

Hybrid II ATD, deformed floor, with 10 

degrees yaw, and with all lateral 

structural supports (armrests/walls). 

Pass/fail injury assessments: HIC; and 

upper torso restraint load, restraint 

system retention and pelvic 

acceleration. 

(3) A vertical (15 G’s) test is to be 

conducted with modified Hybrid II 

ATDs using existing pass/fail criteria. 

Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on March 

25, 2015. 

Pat Mullen, 

Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07503 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 23 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–0723; Special 

Conditions No. 23–264–SC] 

Special Conditions: Honda Aircraft 

Company (Honda) Model HA–420, 

HondaJet; Full Authority Digital Engine 

Control (FADEC) System 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Honda Aircraft Company 

HA–420 airplane. This airplane will 

have a novel or unusual design feature 

associated with the use of an electronic 

engine control system instead of a 

traditional mechanical control system. 

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 April 1, 2015, and 

is applicable on March 25, 2015. 

We must receive your comments by 

May 1, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number [FAA–2015–0723] 

using any of the following methods: 

b Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

b 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. 

b Hand Delivery of 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. 

b Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Privacy: The FAA will post all 

comments it receives, without change, 

to http://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: John 

G. VanHoudt, Federal Aviation 

Administration, Aircraft Certification 

Service, Small Airplane Directorate, 

ACE–111, 901 Locust, Kansas City, 

Missouri 64106; 816–329–4142, fax 

816–329–4090. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA 

has determined, in accordance with 5 

U.S. Code §§ 553(b)(3)(B) and 553(d)(3), 

that notice and opportunity for prior 

public comment hereon are unnecessary 

because 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 

issuance. 

Special 

condition 

number 

Company/airplane model 

23–237– 

SC.

Spectrum Aeronautical Model S– 

40. 

23–246– 

SC.

Cirrus Design Corporation Model 

SF50. 

23–253– 

SC.

Diamond Aircraft Industries Model 

DA–40NG. 

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 ask that you send 

us two copies of written comments. 

We will consider all comments we 

receive on or before the closing date for 

comments. We will consider comments 

filed late if it is possible to do so 

without incurring expense or delay. We 

may change these special conditions 

based on the comments we receive. 

Background 

On October 11, 2006, Honda Aircraft 

Company applied for a type certificate 

for their new Model HA–420. On 

October 10, 2013, Honda Aircraft 

Company requested an extension with 

an effective application date of October 

1, 2013. This extension changed the 

type certification basis to amendment 

23–62. 

The HA–420 is a four to five 

passenger (depending on configuration), 

two crew, lightweight business jet with 

a 43,000-foot service ceiling and a 

maximum takeoff weight of 9963 

pounds. The airplane is powered by two 

GE-Honda Aero Engines (GHAE) HF– 

120 turbofan engines. 

The HA–420 airplane will use an 

electronic engine control system 

(FADEC) instead of a traditional 

mechanical control system. Even though 

the engine control system will be 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 17313 

certificated as part of the engine, the 

installation of an engine with an 

electronic control system requires 

evaluation due to critical environmental 

effects and possible effects on or by 

other airplane systems. For example, 

indirect effects of lightning, radio 

interference with other airplane 

electronic systems, shared engine and 

airplane data and power sources. 

The regulatory requirements in 14 

CFR part 23 for evaluating the 

installation of complex systems, 

including electronic systems and critical 

environmental effects, are contained in 

§ 23.1309. However, when § 23.1309 

was developed, the use of electronic 

control systems for engines was not 

envisioned. Therefore, § 23.1309 

requirements were not applicable to 

systems certificated as part of the engine 

(reference § 23.1309(f)(1)). Parts of the 

system that are not certificated with the 

engine could be evaluated using the 

criteria of § 23.1309. However, the 

integral nature of these systems makes 

it unfeasible to evaluate the airplane 

portion of the system without including 

the engine portion of the system. 

In some cases, the airplane that the 

engine is used in will determine a 

higher classification than the engine 

controls are certificated for; requiring 

the FADEC systems be analyzed at a 

higher classification. As of November 

2005, FADEC special conditions 

mandated the classification for 

§ 23.1309 analyses for loss of FADEC 

control as catastrophic for any airplane 

using FADEC. This is not to imply an 

engine failure is classified as 

catastrophic, but that the digital engine 

control must provide an equivalent 

reliability to mechanical engine 

controls. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, 

Honda Aircraft Company must show 

that the HA–420 meets the applicable 

provisions of part 23, as amended by 

amendments 23–1 through 23–62, 

thereto. 

If the Administrator finds that the 

applicable airworthiness regulations 

(i.e., 14 CFR part 23) do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for the model HA–420 because of a 

novel or unusual design feature, special 

conditions are prescribed under the 

provisions of § 21.16. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the HA–420 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. In addition, the FAA must 

issue a finding of regulatory adequacy 

pursuant to § 611 of Public Law 92–574, 

the ‘‘Noise Control Act of 1972.’’ 

The FAA issues special conditions, as 

defined in § 11.19, under § 11.38 and 

they become part of the type 

certification basis under § 21.17(a)(2). 

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 novel or unusual 

design feature, the special conditions 

would also apply to the other model 

under the provisions of § 21.101(a)(1). 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The HA–420 will incorporate the 

following novel or unusual design 

features: Electronic engine control 

system. 

Discussion 

As defined in the summary section, 

this airplane makes use of an electronic 

engine control system instead of a 

traditional mechanical control system is 

a novel design for this type of airplane. 

The applicable airworthiness 

regulations do not contain adequate or 

appropriate safety standards for this 

design feature. Mandating a structured 

assessment to determine potential 

installation issues mitigates the 

concerns that the addition of a full 

authority engine controller does not 

produce a failure condition not 

previously considered. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the model 

HA–420. Should Honda Aircraft 

Company 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 the model 

HA–420 airplanes. It is not a rule of 

general applicability and it affects only 

the applicant who applied to the FAA 

for approval of these features on the 

airplane. 

The substance of these special 

conditions has been subjected to the 

notice and comment period in several 

prior instances, identified above, 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, notice and opportunity for 

prior public comment hereon are 

unnecessary and the FAA finds good 

cause, in accordance with 5 U.S. Code 

§§ 553(b)(3)(B) and 553(d)(3), making 

these special conditions effective upon 

issuance. 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 23 

Aircraft, Aviation safety, Signs and 

symbols. 

Citation 

The authority citation for these 

special conditions is as follows: 

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

44701; 14 CFR 21.16 and 21.17; and 14 CFR 

11.38 and 11.19. 

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 Honda Aircraft 

Company model HA–420 airplanes. 

1. Electronic Engine Control 

a. The installation of the electronic 

engine control system must comply 

with the requirements of § 23.1309(a) 

through (d) at amendment 23–62. The 

intent of this requirement is not to 

reevaluate the inherent hardware 

reliability of the control itself, but rather 

determine the effects, including 

environmental effects addressed in 

§ 23.1306 and 23.1308 on the airplane 

systems and engine control system 

when installing the control on the 

airplane. When appropriate, engine 

certification data may be used when 

showing compliance with this 

requirement; however, the effects of the 

installation on this data must be 

addressed. 

b. For these evaluations, the loss of 

FADEC control will be analyzed 

utilizing the threat levels associated 

with a catastrophic failure. 

Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on March 

25, 2015. 

Pat Mullen, 

Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07502 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 


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