This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

14111 

Vol. 82, No. 51 

Friday, March 17, 2017 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–3324; Special 

Conditions No. 25–650–SC] 

Special Conditions: L–3 

Communications Integrated Systems; 

Boeing Model 747–8 Series Airplanes, 

Large Non-Structural Glass in the 

Passenger Compartment 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Boeing Model 747–8 

airplane. This airplane, as modified by 

L–3 Communications Integrated 

Systems (L–3 Communications), will 

have a novel or unusual design feature 

when compared to the state of 

technology envisioned in the 

airworthiness standards for transportcategory airplanes. This design feature 

is the installation of large, nonstructural glass panels in the cabin area 

of an executive interior occupied by 

passengers and crew. 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: Effective April 17, 2017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jayson Claar, FAA, Airframe and Cabin 

Safety, ANM–115, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification 

Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., 

Renton, Washington 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–2194; facsimile 

425–227–1320. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On May 10, 2011, L–3 

Communications applied for a 

supplemental type certificate for large, 

non-structural glass panels in the 

passenger compartment in Boeing 

Model 747–8 airplanes. The Model 747– 

8 airplane is a derivative of the Boeing 

Model 747–400 airplane approved 

under type certificate no. A20WE. The 

airplane, as modified by L–3 

Communications, is a four-engine, 

transport-category airplane that will 

have a maximum takeoff weight of 

970,000 lbs, capacity for 24 

crewmembers, and seating for 143 

passengers. 

Type Certification Basis 

The certification basis for the Boeing 

Model 747–8 airplane, as defined in 

type certificate no. A20WE, is Title 14, 

Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 

part 25 as amended by amendments 25– 

1 through 25–120, with exceptions for 

structures and systems that were 

unchanged from the 747–400 design. 

Under the provisions of § 21.101, L– 

3 Communications must show that the 

Model 747–8 airplane, as changed, 

continues to meet the applicable 

provisions of the regulations listed in 

type certificate no. A20WE, or the 

applicable regulations in effect on the 

date of application for the change. 

The certification basis includes 

certain special conditions, exemptions, 

or later amended sections of the 

applicable part that are not relevant to 

these special conditions. 

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 Boeing Model 747–8 airplane 

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 applicant apply 

for a supplemental type certificate to 

modify any other model included on the 

same type certificate to incorporate the 

same novel or unusual design feature, 

these special conditions would also 

apply to the other model under § 21.101. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the Model 747–8 airplane 

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. 

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 

§ 21.101. 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

L–3 Communications Integrated 

Systems is modifying a Boeing Model 

747–8 airplane to install an executive 

interior. This airplane, as modified, will 

have a novel or unusual design feature 

that is the installation of large, nonstructural glass panels in the cabin area 

of an executive interior occupied by 

passengers and crew. The installation of 

these glass items in the passenger 

compartment, which can be occupied 

during taxi, takeoff, and landing, is a 

novel or unusual design feature with 

respect to the material being installed. 

The applicable airworthiness 

regulations do not contain adequate or 

appropriate safety standards for this 

design feature. 

Discussion 

No specific regulations address the 

design and installation of large glass 

components in airplane passenger 

cabins. Existing requirements, such as 

§§ 25.561, 25.562, 25.601, 25.603, 

25.613, 25.775, and 25.789, in the 

Boeing Model 747–8 airplane 

certification basis applicable to this 

supplemental type certificate project, 

provide some design standards 

appropriate for large glass component 

installations. However, additional 

design standards for non-structural glass 

are needed to complement the existing 

requirements. The addition of glass 

involved in this installation, and the 

potentially unsafe conditions caused by 

damage to such components from 

external sources, necessitate assuring 

that adequate safety standards are 

applied to the design and installation of 

the feature in Boeing Model 747–8 

airplanes. 

For purposes of these special 

conditions, a large glass component is 

defined as a glass component weighing 

4 kg (9 lbs) or more. Groupings of glass 

items that individually weigh less than 

4 kg, but collectively weigh 4 kg or 

more, also would need to be included. 

These special conditions also apply 

when showing compliance with the 

applicable performance standards in the 

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14112 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 51 / Friday, March 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

regulations for the installation of these 

components. For example, heat-release 

and smoke-density testing must not 

result in fragmentation of the 

component. 

The use of glass has resulted in tradeoffs between the one unique 

characteristic of glass—its capability for 

undistorted or controlled light 

transmittance, or transparency—and the 

negative aspects of the material, such as 

extreme notch-sensitivity, low fracture 

resistance, low modulus of elasticity, 

and highly variable properties. While 

reasonably strong, glass is nonetheless 

not a desirable material for traditional 

airplane applications because it is heavy 

(about the same density as aluminum), 

and when it fails, it breaks into 

extremely sharp fragments that have the 

potential for injury and which have 

been known to be lethal. Thus, the use 

of glass traditionally has been limited to 

windshields, and instrument or display 

transparencies. The regulations only 

address, and thus only recognize, the 

use of glass in windshield or window 

applications. These regulations do 

address the adverse properties of glass, 

but even so, pilots are occasionally 

injured from shattered glass 

windshields. FAA policy allows glass 

on instruments and display 

transparencies. 

Other installations of large, nonstructural glass items have included the 

following: 

b Glass panels integrated onto a 

stairway handrail closeout. 

b Glass panels mounted in doors to 

allow visibility through the door when 

desired. 

b Glass doors on some galley 

compartments containing small 

amounts of service items. 

These special conditions will reduce 

the hazards from breakage, or from these 

panels’ potential separation from the 

cabin interior. 

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. 

Discussion of Comments 

Notice of proposed special conditions 

no. 25–16–04–SC, for L–3 

Communications modifications to the 

Boeing Model 747–8 airplane, was 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 25, 2016 (81 FR 9365). One 

comment was received. 

By letter no. B–H020–REG–16–TLM– 

16 dated March 24, 2016, on behalf of 

The Boeing Company (Boeing), Capt. 

Terry L. McVenes, Director, System 

Safety & Regulatory Affairs, wrote that 

Boeing provides a 

. . . comprehensive set of comments that 

identify areas of the proposed text where 

changes would be beneficial for better clarity 

and accuracy. [Boeing] consider[s] such 

clarifications important to ensure consistent 

and standardized interpretation and 

application of the requirements and guidance 

provided in the document. 

Boeing recommends that proposed 

special condition no. 1, Material, and 

proposed special condition no. 2, 

Fragmentation, be revised to moreclearly define what each of these special 

conditions require, and how these two 

requirements are different. We agree 

that those two conditions could be 

addressed with a single test, so we 

combined those two conditions into a 

single condition, special condition no. 

1, in this document, for clarity. The 

subsequent special conditions have 

been renumbered accordingly. 

Boeing commented that the load 

conditions in special condition no. 4, 

which corresponds to special condition 

no. 3 in this document, should include 

all flight and landing loads, rather than 

only emergency landing. These special 

conditions are in addition to the load 

requirements in the certification basis 

for the glass installation, rather than in 

lieu of the load requirements. Thus, it 

is not necessary to repeat that all of 

these loads apply to this installation. 

The emergency-landing load condition 

is not normally applied to installations 

of this type, but for the use of large glass 

in the cabin, we determined that this 

additional safety standard is necessary. 

We made no changes to special 

condition number 3 in response to the 

Boeing comments. 

Boeing recommends that the loading 

conditions in proposed special 

condition no. 3 (which is now special 

condition no. 2), Strength, and proposed 

special condition no. 4 (which is now 

special condition no. 3), Retention, be 

the same. Proposed special condition 

no. 3 (which is now special condition 

no. 2), Strength, is required to address 

the unique, extremely notch-sensitive 

characteristics of the glass as having low 

fracture resistance, low modulus of 

elasticity, and highly variable 

properties. Special condition no. 3 

(which is now special condition no. 2) 

specifically accounts for abuse loads in 

addition to the loads required per 

subparts C & D of 14 CFR part 25. 

Special condition no. 4 (which is now 

special condition no. 3) accounts for 

loads encountered during directional 

loading and rebound resulting from 

emergency landing loads of 14 CFR part 

25. We have made minor grammatical 

modifications to the requirements. 

Boeing recommends that, for 

proposed special condition no. 4 (which 

is now special condition no. 3), 

Retention, the statement, ‘‘Both the 

directional loading and rebound 

conditions must be assessed,’’ be 

removed, because these both are 

covered in proposed special condition 

no. 3. As explained above, special 

condition nos. 3 (which is now special 

condition no. 2) and 4 (which is now 

special condition no. 3) account for 

different loading conditions. We have 

made minor grammatical modifications 

to the requirements. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to Boeing 

Model 747–8 series airplanes as 

modified by L–3 Communications. 

Should L–3 Communications apply at a 

later date for a supplemental type 

certificate to modify any other model 

included on type certificate no. A20WE 

to incorporate the same novel or 

unusual design feature, these special 

conditions would apply to that model as 

well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only a certain 

novel or unusual design feature on one 

model series of airplane. It is not a rule 

of general applicability and affects only 

the applicant who applied to the FAA 

for approval of this feature on the 

airplane. 

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, for large glass 

components installed in a cabin 

occupied by passengers or crew who are 

not otherwise protected from the 

injurious effects of failure of the glass 

installations, as part of the type 

certification basis for Boeing 747–8 

airplanes modified by L–3 

Communications. 

1. Material Fragmentation—The 

applicant must use tempered or 

otherwise treated glass to ensure that, 

when fractured, the glass breaks into 

small pieces with relatively dull edges. 

The glass component installation must 

retain all glass fragments to minimize 

the danger from flying glass shards or 

pieces. The applicant must demonstrate 

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 51 / Friday, March 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 14113 

this characteristic by impact and 

puncture testing, and testing to failure. 

The applicant may conduct this test 

with or without any glass coating that 

may be utilized in the design. 

2. Strength—In addition to meeting 

the load requirements for all flight and 

landing loads, including any of the 

applicable emergency-landing 

conditions in subparts C & D of 14 CFR 

part 25, the glass components that are 

located such that they are not protected 

from contact with cabin occupants must 

not fail due to abusive loading, such as 

impact from occupants stumbling into, 

leaning against, sitting on, or performing 

other intentional or unintentional 

forceful contact with the glass 

component. The applicant must assess 

the effect of design details such as 

geometric discontinuities or surface 

finish, including but not limited to 

embossing and etching. 

3. Retention—The glass component, 

as installed in the airplane, must not 

come free of its restraint or mounting 

system in the event of an emergency 

landing, considering both the 

directional loading and resulting 

rebound conditions. The applicant must 

assess the effect of design details such 

as geometric discontinuities or surface 

finish, including but not limited to 

embossing and etching. 

4. Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness: The instructions for 

continued airworthiness must reflect the 

method used to fasten the panel to the 

cabin interior, and must ensure the 

reliability of the methods used (e.g., life 

limit of adhesives, or clamp 

connection). The applicant must define 

any inspection methods and intervals 

based upon adhesion data from the 

manufacturer of the adhesive, or upon 

actual adhesion-test data, if necessary. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on February 

14, 2017. 

Michael Kaszycki, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–05330 Filed 3–16–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2016–9489; Special 

Conditions No. 25–649–SC] 

Special Conditions: Textron Aviation 

Inc. Model 700 Airplane; Isolation of 

Airplane Electronic System Security 

Protection From Unauthorized Internal 

Access 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Textron Aviation Inc. 

(Textron) Model 700 airplane. This 

airplane will have a novel or unusual 

design feature when compared to the 

state of technology envisioned in the 

airworthiness standards for transportcategory airplanes. This design feature 

is airplane electronic systems and 

networks that allow access, from aircraft 

internal sources (e.g., wireless devices, 

Internet connectivity), to the airplane’s 

previously isolated, internal, electronic 

components. 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: This action is effective on 

Textron on March 17, 2017. We must 

receive your comments by May 1, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number FAA–2016–9489 

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 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. 

b 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 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: 

Varun Khanna, FAA, Airplane and 

Flightcrew Interface, ANM–111, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–1298; facsimile 

425–227–1320. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA 

has determined that notice of, and 

opportunity for prior public comment 

on, these special conditions is 

impracticable because these procedures 

would significantly delay issuance of 

the design approval, and thus delivery, 

of the affected airplane. 

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 by the closing date for 

comments. We may change these special 

conditions based on the comments we 

receive. 

Background 

On November 20, 2014, Textron 

applied for a type certificate for their 

new Model 700 airplane. The Textron 

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