Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 75071 

6. In lieu of § 25.125(b)(2)(ii)(B), we 

propose paragraph § 25.125(b)(2)(ii)(C) 

be removed and replaced by the 

following requirements: 

In lieu of § 25.125(b)(2)(ii)(B) and 

§ 25.125(b)(2)(ii)(C) Landing. 

(B) A speed that provides the 

maneuvering capability specified in 

§ 25.143(h) with the landing ice 

accretion defined in appendix C. 

7. In lieu of, § 25.143(j)(2)(i) we 

propose the following requirements for 

controllability and maneuverability: 

In lieu of § 25.143(j)(2)(i) General. 

(i) The airplane is controllable in a 

pull-up maneuver up to 1.5 g load factor 

or lower if limited by AOA protection; 

and 

8. In lieu of § 25.207, Stall warning, to 

read as the requirements defined in SC 

Part I., Section 4. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–30441 Filed 12–18–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–1292; Notice No. 25– 

12–17–SC] 

Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., 

Model EMB–550 Airplanes; Electrical/ 

Electronic Equipment Bay Fire 

Detection and Smoke Penetration 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes special 

conditions for the Embraer S.A. Model 

EMB–550 airplane. This airplane will 

have novel or unusual design features, 

specifically distributed electrical and 

electronic equipment bays in 

pressurized areas of the airplane. Older 

transport category airplane electrical/ 

electronic equipment bay installations 

are located in the lower lobe where the 

flightcrew could determine the origin of 

smoke or fire by a straightforward 

airplane flight manual procedure. In 

distributed electrical/electronic bay 

installations it is not as straightforward. 

The FAA has no requirement for smoke 

and/or fire detection in the electrical/ 

electronic equipment bays. To ensure 

effective mitigation of fires, the FAA 

proposes these special conditions. The 

applicable airworthiness regulations do 

not contain adequate or appropriate 

safety standards for this design feature. 

These proposed 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: Send your comments on or 

before February 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number FAA–2012–XXXX 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• 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. 

• 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 8 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except federal holidays. 

• 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 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: 

Robert C. Jones, FAA, Propulsion and 

Mechanical Systems Branch, ANM–112, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–1234; facsimile 

425–227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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 on or before the closing date for 

comments. We may change these special 

conditions based on the comments we 

receive. 

Background 

On May 14, 2009, Embraer S.A. 

applied for a type certificate for their 

new Model EMB–550 airplane. The 

Model EMB–550 airplane is the first of 

a new family of jet airplanes designed 

for corporate flight, fractional, charter, 

and private owner operations. The 

aircraft has a conventional configuration 

with a low wing and T-tail empennage. 

The primary structure is metal with 

composite empennage and control 

surfaces. The Model EMB–550 airplane 

is designed for 8 passengers, with a 

maximum of 12 passengers. It is 

equipped with two Honeywell 

HTF7500–E medium bypass ratio 

turbofan engines mounted on aft 

fuselage pylons. Each engine produces 

approximately 6,540 pounds of thrust 

for normal takeoff. The primary flight 

controls consist of hydraulically 

powered fly-by-wire elevators, aileron 

and rudder, controlled by the pilot or 

copilot sidestick. 

The Model EMB–550 airplane has 

electrical/electronic equipment bays 

distributed throughout the airplane; 

three of them are in the pressurized 

area. The current airworthiness 

requirements do not contain adequate or 

appropriate safety standards regarding 

smoke/fire detection and protection 

against penetration of hazardous 

quantities of smoke from equipment 

bays into occupied areas of the airplane 

for this type of airplane configuration. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of Title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17, 

Embraer S.A. must show that the Model 

EMB–550 airplane meets the applicable 

provisions of part 25, as amended by 

Amendments 25–1 through 25–127 

thereto. 

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 Model EMB–550 airplane 

because of a novel or unusual design 

feature, special conditions are 


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75072 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

prescribed under the provisions of 

§ 21.16. 

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 or similar novel 

or unusual design feature, the special 

conditions would also apply to the other 

model under § 21.101. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the Model EMB–550 

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 and the FAA must issue a 

finding of regulatory adequacy under 

§ 611 of Public Law 92–574, the ‘‘Noise 

Control Act of 1972.’’ 

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 

§ 21.17(a)(2). 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The Model EMB–550 airplane will 

incorporate the following novel or 

unusual design features: The Model 

EMB–550 airplane has distributed 

electrical and electronic equipment bays 

that were not envisioned at the time this 

rule was made. 

Discussion 

In general, smoke and fire detection 

systems are designed to: 

• Automatically shut off power to the 

affected equipment, 

• If necessary, reconfigure the 

environmental control systems to 

control any smoke resulting from a fire 

or overheat condition, and 

• Alert the flightcrew to the existence 

of the fire. 

Most airplanes certified under part 25 

have one or two electrical equipment 

bays located in the lower lobe, adjacent 

to pressure regulator/outflow valves or 

vents. If a fire occurs in an electrical 

equipment bay, any smoke is drawn 

toward the outflow valves or vents and 

is discharged from the airplane without 

entering occupied areas. In the event of 

a smoke or fire in one of the electrical 

equipment bays, the procedures to 

isolate the bay on some airplanes 

requires the flightcrew to use trial and 

error to determine whether or not the 

source is in a particular electrical 

equipment bay. However, with this 

approach, the flightcrew does not know 

where the fire or smoke is because it is 

difficult to identify the source, 

especially during changes of phases of 

flight (e.g., climbing or descending) or 

system transients (e.g., changes in the 

airflow from the environmental control 

system). 

This trial-and-error approach may be 

acceptable for aircraft with no more 

than two electrical equipment bays, 

both located in the lower lobe. In this 

case, a fire in an electrical equipment 

bay is in either one bay or the other. 

However, for an aircraft with three or 

more electrical equipment bays, in the 

time it takes to determine the source of 

smoke, the fire could spread, generating 

even more smoke and damage. 

In the Model EMB–550 airplane, 

electrical equipment bays are 

distributed throughout the airplane in 

the pressurized compartment. Section 

25.857 requires that cargo compartments 

have means to prevent hazardous 

quantities of smoke or fire extinguishing 

agent from penetrating into occupied 

areas of the airplane. However, the 

applicable airworthiness regulations do 

not address the following: 

• Preventing hazardous quantities of 

smoke or extinguishing agent 

originating from the electrical 

equipment bays from penetrating into 

occupied areas of the airplane; or 

• Installing smoke or fire detectors in 

electrical equipment bays. 

The FAA determined that the Model 

EMB–550 needs a means to detect 

smoke or fire in each electrical 

equipment bay that is located in the 

pressurized cabin. This means must 

indicate in which bay the smoke or fire 

occurs, and ensure that the flightcrew 

can depower it. For situations in which 

it may be impossible for the flightcrew 

to shut down all the equipment in the 

bay due to the use of critical or essential 

equipment located in it, Embraer S.A. 

shall conduct an analysis to: 

• Specify the criteria for shutting 

down specific electrical equipment in 

the electrical equipment bay that can be 

shut down, 

• Demonstrate that remaining 

electrical equipment is protected against 

fire propagation, such as thermal 

protection, fire containment, and other 

systems as addressed in Advisory 

Circular 25–16, Electrical Fault and Fire 

Prevention and Protection, dated April 

5, 1991. 

The criteria developed for aircraft 

designs that incorporate distributed 

electrical/electronic equipment bays are 

based upon existing smoke/fire 

detection and smoke penetration 

guidance and acceptable past practices. 

Sections 25.831(b), 25.831(c), 25.831(d), 

and 25.869(a) provide the general 

requirements that apply to electrical/ 

electronic equipment smoke penetration 

and evacuation. Flight tests are 

conducted to demonstrate compliance; 

however, the amount of smoke 

generated and flight test conditions have 

been highly variable. 

The special conditions below require 

that there must be a means to detect 

smoke or fire in each electrical/ 

electronic equipment bay located in the 

pressurized compartment. They also 

include requirements to prevent 

propagation of hazardous quantities of 

smoke or fire extinguishing agent 

throughout the passenger cabin. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the Model 

EMB–550 airplane. Should Embraer 

S.A. 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 one model 

of airplanes. It is not a rule of general 

applicability. 

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 Proposed Special Conditions 

Accordingly, the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) proposes the 

following special conditions as part of 

the type certification basis for Embraer 

S.A. Model EMB–550 airplanes. 

1. Requirements to prevent 

propagation of smoke that originates in 

electrical equipment bays from entering 

the passenger cabin and flight deck: 

a. To prevent such propagation, 

means to prevent hazardous quantities 

of smoke originating from the electrical 

equipment bays from incapacitating 

passengers and crew must be 

demonstrated. The demonstrations must 

include flight tests, and shall be 

conducted for all dispatchable system 

configurations. 

b. A small quantity of smoke may 

enter an occupied area only under the 

following conditions: 

i. The smoke enters occupied areas 

during system transients from below the 

deck or main deck sources. No 

sustained smoke penetration beyond 

that from environmental control system 

transients is permitted, 

ii. Penetration of the small quantity of 

smoke is a dynamic event, involving 

either dissipation or mobility. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 75073 

Dissipation is rapid dilution of the 

smoke by ventilation air. Mobility is 

rapid movement of the smoke into and 

out of the occupied area. In no case 

should a light haze indicative of 

stagnant airflow form, as this indicates 

that the ventilation system is failing to 

meet the requirements of 14 CFR 25.831, 

iii. The smoke from a source below 

the main deck must not rise above 

armrest height on the main deck, and 

iv. The smoke from a source in the 

main deck must dissipate rapidly via 

dilution with fresh air and be evacuated 

from the airplane. The Airplane Flight 

Manual (AFM) must include procedures 

to evacuate smoke from the occupied 

areas. To demonstrate that the quantity 

of smoke is small, a flight test must be 

conducted which simulates the 

emergency procedures used in the event 

of a fire during flight, including the use 

of VMO/MMO descent profiles and a 

simulated landing, if such conditions 

are specified in the emergency 

procedure. 

2. Requirement for smoke or fire 

detection in electrical/electronic 

equipment bays: A smoke or fire 

detection system compliant with 

§§ 25.855(a), (b), (c), and (d); and 

§ 25.858 must be provided for each 

electrical/electronic equipment bay in 

the pressurized cabin. Each system must 

provide a visual indication to the flight 

deck within one minute after the start of 

a fire. Airplane flight tests must be 

conducted to show compliance with 

these requirements, and the 

performance of the detectors must be 

shown in accordance with Advisory 

Circular 25–9A, Smoke Detection, 

Penetration, and Evacuation Tests and 

Related Flight Manual Emergency 

Procedures, or other means acceptable 

to the FAA. 

3. Requirement for AFM procedures 

safety analysis: It shall be demonstrated 

that the AFM procedures to shut down 

electrical/electronic equipment bays, or 

part of them, in case of smoke/fire 

detection, do not compromise the safe 

operation of the aircraft. If a procedure 

requests to shut down only part of the 

equipment, the remaining equipment 

shall be incorporated with safety 

precautions against fire propagation. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 13, 2012. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–30493 Filed 12–18–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2011–1285; Directorate 

Identifier 2010–SW–073–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter 

Deutschland GmbH Helicopters 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Supplemental notice of 

proposed rulemaking (SNPRM); 

reopening of comment period. 

SUMMARY: We are revising an earlier 

proposed airworthiness directive (AD) 

for Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH 

(Eurocopter) Model BO–105A, BO– 

105C, BO–105LS A–1, BO–105LS A–3, 

and BO–105S helicopters, which 

proposed inspecting for debonding of 

the erosion protective shell (abrasion 

strip) on the leading edge of each main 

rotor blade. This SNPRM proposes to 

revise those inspection requirements by 

identifying specific dates of replacement 

of the applicable parts and identifying a 

specific inspection method for 

debonding of an abrasion strip. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by February 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Docket: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Send comments to the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Docket 

Operations, M–30, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to the 

‘‘Mail’’ address between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in person at the 

Docket Operations Office between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this proposed AD, the 

economic evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Operations 

Office (telephone 800–647–5527) is in 

the ADDRESSES section. Comments will 

be available in the AD docket shortly 

after receipt. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact American 

Eurocopter Corporation, 2701 N. Forum 

Drive, Grand Prairie, Texas 75052; 

telephone (972) 641–0000 or (800) 232– 

0323; fax (972) 641–3775; or at http:// 

www.eurocopter.com/techpub. You may 

review the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Office of the 

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 

2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort 

Worth, Texas 76137. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Grigg, Manager, Safety Management 

Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 

2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 

76137; telephone (817) 222–5110; email 

jim.grigg@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to participate in this 

rulemaking by submitting written 

comments, data, or views. We also 

invite comments relating to the 

economic, environmental, energy, or 

federalism impacts that might result 

from adopting the proposals in this 

document. The most helpful comments 

reference a specific portion of the 

proposal, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include 

supporting data. To ensure the docket 

does not contain duplicate comments, 

commenters should send only one copy 

of written comments, or if comments are 

filed electronically, commenters should 

submit only one time. 

We will file in the docket all 

comments that we receive, as well as a 

report summarizing each substantive 

public contact with FAA personnel 

concerning this proposed rulemaking. 

Before acting on this proposal, we will 

consider all comments we receive on or 

before the closing date for comments. 

We will consider comments filed after 

the comment period has closed if it is 

possible to do so without incurring 

expense or delay. We may change this 

proposal in light of the comments we 

receive. 

Discussion 

On November 29, 2011, we issued a 

proposal to amend part 39 of the Federal 

Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 39) to 

include an AD that would apply to 

Eurocopter Model BO–105A, BO–105C, 

BO–105LS A–1, BO–105LS A–3, and 

BO–105S helicopters with a main rotor 

blade, part number (P/N) 105–15103, 

105–15141, 105–15141V001, 105– 

15143, 105–15150, 105–15150V001, 

105–15152, 105–81013, 105–87214, 

1120–15101, or 1120–15103; where the 

main rotor blade erosion protective shell 

was replaced between September 2006 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with