Exemption No. 10156

UNITED , STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FE~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~3~~ON

In the matter of the petitlon of

The Boeing Company

for an exemption from § 25.853(d) ofTitIe 14,

Code of Federal Regulations and condition 1

of Special Condition 25-367-SC.

Regulatory Docket No. FAA-201O-0S97

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated August 4, 2010, Jordan B Zundel!, Lead Project Administrator" Production and

Retrofit Projects, The Boeing Company, P.O. Box 37Q7, M/C 67-LR, Scattle, Washington

98124~2207, petitioned for an exemption from Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR)

25.853(d) and paragraph I of Special Condition 25-367-sc for the Boeing Model 777-300ER

aircraft. Boeing intends to install energy~absorbing material, on the edges of the partition walls

forward and an or the side-facing business clac;sseats of an Air New Zealand model 777-300ER

aircraft. The energy-absorbing material is installed to mitigate occupant injury during an

emergency landing andJor in the event of passenger contact with the seat during turbulence. The

energy-absorbing material does not meet the flammability requirements specified in § 25.853(d)

and the first condition (paragraph 1) of Special Condition 25-367-SC.

The petitioner requests relief from the following rcgulation(s):

Section 25.853( d) which requires that certain interior components of airplanes with passenger

capacities of20 or more meet the flanunability test requirements of parts IV and V (heat release

and smoke emission) of appendix F of 14 CFR part 25!.

Paragraph 1 ofSpccial Condition SC-367~SC which requires certain portions of the passenger

seats meet the flammability test requirements of parts IV and V (heat release and smoke

emission) of appendix F of 14 CFR part 25.
The petitioner supports its request with thc following information:

This section summarizes the petitioner's request. The complete petition(s) is available at the

Department of Transportation's Federal Docket Management System, on the Internet at

http://regulations.gov, in Docket No. FAA-20 I0-5097.

Air New Zealand 777-300ER business class seats include partitions both forward and aft of each

passenger seat place. The edges of these partition walls may be struck by persons during an

emergency landing or turbulence.

During an emergency landing, for threshold loads below 6.5g, the inflatable restraints will not

deploy and seated passengers may strike the top edge ofthe partition wall in front of them. For

loads of 6.5g and above, the inflatable restraints activate to cushion forward impact. However,

contact 'Withthe inflated airbag produces a rebound resulting in seated occupants contacting the

vertical portion of the partition wall aft of the passenger. Although most of the energy is

mitigated by the in.itial reaction with the airbag, the bouncing movement of the occupant must be

addressed.

During turbulence, passengers may contact the partition wall edges either while seated, or in lhe

event ofa fall while navigating through the cabin. To protect passengers from injuries resulting

fTomcontact with seat partition wall edges, the business class seats incorporate energy-absorbing

edge-capping material on these wall edges. The padding consists of Ensolite, an

energy-absorbing foam recommended in Advisory Circular (AC) 25-17 A for this express

purpose, encapsulated within a leather cover.

The small concentrations of this edge-capping material compared to the total surface area of

materials used in the interior (edge-capping is 0.0 I% of total interior surface area) have no

appreciable effect on the overall fire safety of the passenger cabin. In addition, the edge-capping

material itself meets the requirements of § 25.853(a) and all materials adjacent to the edgecapping will meet the requirements of § 25.853(a) and either (d) or Special Condition 25-367-

SC where appropriate, reducing the possibility of propagation should the scat partition wall be

involved in a fire. The use of Ensolite edge-capping on panels associated with side-facing seats

goes back five years in production at Boeing and Boeing has knowledge of previous similar use

of material in airplane modifications. The Ensolite padding in question, while not complying

with the requirements of § 25.853(d), has been added to address delethalization requirements

(per § 25.785 and AC 25- t 7A). The padding has been present as a means to mitigate personal

injury and meet the intent of § 25.785 on airplanes since 1978.

Public Interest

According to the petitioner, this petition is in the public interest because it provides for the

installation of an injury preventing device that will be useful during all phases of flight, including

takeoff, taxi, landing, turbulence, conditions encountered during normal flight, and emergency

landing events. The material fully complies with § 25.853(a) and will not propagate a fire.

Additionally, it will add to the survivability of a post-crash fire due to its ability to mitigate

personal injury in a crash event and aid in an occupant's ability to safely evacuate the aircraft.

In addition, due to the fact that energy-absorbing material has been accepted by the FAA for

delethalization and has been in use for at least two decades for that purpose, the Boeing

Company requests that the FAA find good cause under § 11.87 and waive the need for the public

process described in § 11.85.

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Federal Register publication

A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2010 (75 FR

15771). No comments were received.

The FAA's analysis

Section 25.785(b), "Seats, berths, safety belts, and harnesses," requires that "each seat, berth,

safety belt, harness and adjacent part of the airplane at each station designated as occupiable

during takeoff and landing must be designed so that a person making proper use of these

facilities will not suffer serious injury in an emergency landing as a result of the inertia forces

specified in §§ 25.56\ and 25.562."

The Boeing Model 777-300ER otfers interior arrangements which include single-occupant sidefacing seat installations. These seat installations include partitions both forward and aft of each

passenger seat place. The partitions are considered part of the seat installation and differ from

the partitions that are installed between the seat classes such as first class and economy class.

The partitions form walls to provide privacy to each individual seat place. Passengers may

impact these partition edges during an emergency landing or in the event turbulence is

encountered. To protect passengers from injuries the Boeing Company intends to install edge

capping on the partition wall edges of each of the business class seats. The edge capping

consists of Ensolite, an energy absorbing foam, encapsulated within a leather cover. Ensolite is a

material recommended in AC 25-17 A as a means of delethalizing injurious objects. Although

this padding doesn't meet the smoke emission and heat release requirements required by

§ 25.853(d) and condition 1 of Special Condition SC-367-SC. the material fully complies with

§ 25.853(a) and will not propagate a fire. By separate correspondence, the Boeing Company

informed the FAA that a maximum of 400 square inches of Ensolite will be installed on each

individual seat. Although this exceeds the amount of material, allowed by condition 2 of Special

Condition SC-367-SC, that does not have to comply with the heat release and smoke emission

requirements, the FAA finds that the Ensolite will enhance passenger safety by mitigating

occupant injury during an emergency landing and/or in the event of passenger contact with the

scat during turbulence.

The FAA also agrees that the padding will add to the survivability ofa post crash fire due to its

ability to mitigate personal injury in a crash event and aid in an occupant's ability to safely

evacuate the aircraft.

In consideration of the above, the FAA concludes that granting this exemption does not

adversely affect safety.

Public interest

Because the Ensolite foam edge capping will help prevent injury in the event turbulence is

encountered or during an emergency landing, there is a public benefit in granting this exemption.

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Conditions and limitations

This exemption is limited to the business class seat installation on Boeing model 777-300ER

airplanes.

Each individual seat place is limited to a maximum of 400 square inches of Ensolite foam. The

foam installation is limited to those areas of the seat that are within the head strike zone of the

seated passengers or those areas of the seat that present a potential personal injury hazard.

The Ensolite foam must meet the flammability requirements of § 25.853(a).

The FAA's decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest

and will not adversely affect safety. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49

U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, The Boeing Company is

hereby granted an exemption from § 25.853(d) and condition I of Special Condition

SC-367-SC for all Model 777-300ER airplanes

Issued in Renton, Washington, OCT Z 5 2010

Michael Kaszycki

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate

Aircraft Certification Service

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