Exemption No. 10156

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FE~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~3~~ON

Inthe matter ofthe petitlon of The Boeing Company for an exemption from § 25.853(d) ofTitIe 14, Code ofFederal Regulations and condition 1 ofSpecial 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 ofFederal 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 ofthe partition walls forward and an or the side-facing business clac;sseats ofan AirNew Zealand model 777-300ER aircraft. The energy-absorbing material is installed tomitigate occupant injury during an emergency landing andJor in the event ofpassenger 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)ofSpecial Condition 25-367-SC. The petitioner requests relief from the following rcgulation(s): Section 25.853(d) which requires that certain interior components ofairplanes with passenger capacities of20 ormore meet the flanunability test requirements ofparts IV and V(heat release and smoke emission) ofappendix Fof 14CFR part 25!. Paragraph 1ofSpccial Condition SC-367~SC which requires certain portions ofthe passenger seats meet the flammability test requirements ofparts IV and V (heat release and smoke emission) ofappendix Fof 14CFR part 25.The petitioner supports its request with thc following information:

This section summarizes the petitioner's request. The complete petition(s) isavailable atthe Department ofTransportation's Federal Docket Management System, onthe Internet at http://regulations.gov, inDocket No. FAA-20 I0-5097. Air New Zealand 777-300ER business class seats include partitions both forward and aft ofeach passenger seat place. The edges ofthese 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 ofthem. For loads of 6.5g and above, the inflatable restraints activate to cushion forward impact. However, contact 'Withthe inflated airbag produces arebound resulting in seated occupants contacting the vertical portion ofthe partition wall aft ofthe passenger. Although most ofthe energy is mitigated by the in.itialreaction with the airbag, the bouncing movement ofthe 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 ofEnsolite, an energy-absorbing foam recommended inAdvisory Circular (AC) 25-17A for this express purpose, encapsulated within a leather cover. The small concentrations ofthis edge-capping material compared to the total surface area of materials used in the interior (edge-capping is0.0I% oftotal interior surface area) have no appreciable effect on the overall fire safety ofthe passenger cabin. Inaddition, 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 ofpropagation should the scat partition wall be involved in afire. The use ofEnsolite edge-capping on panels associated with side-facing seats goes back five years inproduction at Boeing and Boeing has knowledge ofprevious similar use ofmaterial in airplane modifications. The Ensolite padding inquestion, while not complying with the requirements of §25.853(d), has been added to address delethalization requirements (per § 25.785 and AC 25-t7A). 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 inthe public interest because itprovides for the installation ofan injury preventing device that will beuseful 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, itwill add to the survivability ofapost-crash fire due to its ability to mitigate personal injury in acrash event and aid in an occupant's ability to safely evacuate the aircraft. Inaddition, due to the fact that energy-absorbing material has been accepted bythe 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 § 11.87and waive the need forthe public process described in § 11.85. 2Federal Register publication

A summary ofthe petition was published inthe 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 ofthe airplane ateach station designated as occupiable during takeoff and landing must be designed so that aperson making proper use ofthese facilities will not suffer serious injury in an emergency landing as aresult ofthe 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 ofeach passenger seat place. The partitions are considered part ofthe 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 toprovide privacy to each individual seat place. Passengers may impact these partition edges during an emergency landing or inthe event turbulence is encountered. To protect passengers from injuries the Boeing Company intends to install edge capping on the partition wall edges ofeach ofthe business class seats. The edge capping consists ofEnsolite, an energy absorbing foam, encapsulated within a leather cover. Ensolite is a material recommended inAC 25-17A as a means ofdelethalizing injurious objects. Although this padding doesn't meet the smoke emission and heat release requirements required by 

### §25.853(d) and condition 1of 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 of400 square inches ofEnsolite will be installed on each individual seat. Although this exceeds the amount ofmaterial, 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 ofpassenger 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 inan occupant's ability to safely evacuate the aircraft. Inconsideration ofthe 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 inthe event turbulence is encountered or during an emergency landing, there is apublic benefit in granting this exemption.

3Conditions and limitations

This exemption islimited to the business class seat installation on Boeing model 777-300ER airplanes. Each individual seat place is limited to amaximum of400 square inches of Ensolite foam. The foam installation is limited to those areas ofthe seat that are within the head strike zone ofthe seated passengers or those areas ofthe seat that present apotential personal injury hazard. The Ensolite foam must meet the flammability requirements of §25.853(a). The FAA's decision Inconsideration ofthe foregoing, I find that a grant ofexemption is inthe public interest and will not adversely affect safety. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in49 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 forall Model 777-300ER airplanes Issued inRenton, Washington, 

### OCT Z 5 2010

Michael Kaszycki Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate Aircraft Certification Service



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