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FAA RENTON 

Exemption No: 10235A 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINlSTRATION 

RENTON, WASHINGTON 98057·3356 

In the matter of the petition of 

P.02/06 

The Boeing Company Regulatory Docket No. FAA-20tO-o990 

for exemption from § 25.809(a) of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

GRANT OF EXEMPTION 

By letter RA-12-05201, dated December 11,20121 Mr. Douglas M. Lane, ODA Deputy Lead 

Administrator. The Boeing Company, P.O. Box 3707; Seattle, Washington 98124-2207, 

petitioned to amend Exemption No. t 0235 which pennits relief for a limited number of Boeing 

Model 787-8 series airplanes from Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 25.809(a), as 

amended by Amendment 25-116. The proposed exemption, if granted, would modify the way 

the exemption is implemented into production. 

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulations: 

Section 25.809(a), at Amendment 25-116, requires that each emergency exit be provided 

with a means to view conditions outside the airplane prior to opening an exit, under all 

lighting conditions. 

The petitioner supports its req11est with the fGilowing information: 

This section quotes the relevant information from the petitioner's request. The complete petition 

is available at the Department ofTransportation•s Federal Docket Management System, on the 

Internet at http://www.regulations.gov, in Docket No, FAA-2010-0990. 

De~ription of Issue 

As discussed in Exemption No, 10235, § 25.809(a) at Amendment 25-116 was a very 

late addition to the certification basis ofthe Model787-8. Since that addition occurred 

well after the 787-8 production line had already started, the FAA granted 1·elieffor a 
OCT-18-2013 14:50 FAA RENTON 

limited number of airplanes to allow Boeing sufficient time to develop~ certify and 

incorporate into production a new, fully~ompliant exterior lighting system. The 

exemption grants relief for all 787-8 airplanes delivered on or before December 31 t 

2013. 

Boeing is C\llTently in the process of certifying the new exterior lighting system. The 

new system will be incorporated as part of a 787-8 block point change on an ail'plane 

that will be certified and delivered prior December 31, 2013. This "and-on~· 

incorporation of a fully compliant exterior lighting system meets the intent of 

Exemption No. 10235 since the block point airplane will be fully-compliant with 

P.03/06 

§ 25.809(a) at Amendment 25 .. 116. and it is scheduled to be delivered to the airline 

customer prior to the end of2013. Therefore, only those airplanes built prior to line 

number 127 need relief from the 1'all lighting conditions" requirement in§ 25.809(a). 

As identified in Exemption No. 10235, all 787-9 airplanes will be fully compliant with 

§ 25.809(a) at Amendment 25-116. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, some of the early production 787-8 airplanes have their 

deliveries delayed until2014 or later. As discussed in Exemption No. 10235, the 787's 

complex system architecture and structural materials make it very challenging to 

incorporate a new integrated exterior lighting system into already bui1t ahframes. The 

FAA rc::cognized these challenges when it granted the temporary relief needed for the 

development, certification and an in-sequence production incorporation of the new 

exterior lighting system. While it was unforeseen that the delivery of some of the early 

production 787-8 airplanes would occur after December 31, 2013, the rationale and 

justification for continued relief for these airplanes is the same as that: pro-vided in 

Exemption No. 10235_ That is, it would create a significant and unwarranted burden. 

and would lead to further delivery delays if the early production airplanes that will be ~ 

.delivered after December 31, 2013 are required to undergo the extensive rework needed 

to incorporate the new integrated exterior emergency lighting system. Therefore, Boeing 

requests that the exemption be amended to provide relief from the ••atllighting 

conditions'" requirement for non-compliant 787-8 airplanes based on the blockpoint 

incorporation point instead of being based on their individual delivery dates. Per the 

current production schedule, amending the original grant as is being requested herein 

will actually result in fewer airplanes entering service without the fully-compliant 

emergency lighting system than was originally envisioned when Exemption No. 10235 

was granted. 

Statement of Public Interest 

The Model 787-81fully complies with§ 25.809 (a), except as related to the ••an 

lighting conditions" requirement. Granting this petition for amendment is in the 

public's interest because it would allow the 787-8 airplanes that were designed and 

built without a fully compliant exterior lighting system to be delivered without 

requiring the very significant rework 11ecessary to incorporate the integrated lighting 

system. Tltis is consistent with the intent of the relief permitted by the original grant 

of exemption No. 10235. Conversely, ifthis requested relief is not granted, it would 

certainly lead to further delays in the deliveries of these early production 787~8 

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airplanes due to the need for modifications associated with incorporating the new 

external lighting system. Since the 787-8 provides many industry-leading operating 

economics, environmental improvements and safety improvements relative to 

previously certificated airplanes, it would be in the public's interest to allow the 

previously built 787-8 airplanes to enter service without further delivery delays. 

Also~ given that many 787 customers are overseas, further delivery delays of the 787-

8 are not in the interest of the public due to the potential negative impact to export 

sales and the balance of trade. 

Statement of No Adverse Effect on Safety 

The amendment being requested herein will not adversely affect safety. The original 

grant provided relief to a limited number of airplanes based on their de1ivery dates. 

Boeing is simply requesting that the applicability of the grant be revised to 

correspond to the block point change package that includes the new external lighting 

system. It is worthy of note that Boeing is not requesting that additional airplanes be 

granted relief beyond those originally envisioned in the original grant. 

Request to 'Waive Publication and Comment' 

P.04/06 

Boeing requests to waive the requirement for publication and comment since there is no 

appreciable change to the intent of the relief permitted by Exemption No. 10235. As 

part of a block point change, a f\llly compliant exterior lighting system will be 

implemented, certified and delivered on a 787-8 airplane prior to the end of2013, thus 

meeting the spirit ofExemption No. 10235. However, due to unforeseen circumstances; 

the delivery of some of the very early production airplanes (without the exterior lighting 

system) will be delayed to 2014 or later. The rationale tor relief for these early 

production airplanes remains unchanged from that discussed in Exemption No. 1023 5. 

This petition for amendment simply requests that relief be allowed for airplanes 

manufactured prior to the block point change incorporation airplane, regardless of their 

acrual delivery dates. 

Privileges of the Exemption Outside the United States 

The privileges of Exemption No. 1 0235 outside the United States are unchanged by 

this petition for amendment. 

Conclusion· 

It is requested that. the f'M amend Exemption No. 10235 to specify that an exterior 

lighting system that is fully compliant with § 25.809(a) at Amendment 25-116 be 

implemented as part of a blockpoint ("and-onn) change that is still to be certified and 

delivered prior to December 31, 2013. The relief from the '"all lighting conditions'' 

aspect of§ 25.809(a) applies to airplanes manufactured prior to the block point change 

and it will not apply to any airplanes manufactured after the blockpoint change. 

Boeing's request herein is consistent with the original intent to incorporate an "and on" 

production change prior to the end of2013. However, due to unforeseen circumstances 

with some of the early production airplanes. some airplane delivery dates are being 

delayed tar longer than previously planned. Therefore, for the reasons discussed above 

and for those in Exemption No. 10235, Boeing requests tha:t the FAA grant relief for all 

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OCT-18-2013 14:51 FAA RENTON 

aiiplanes manufactured prior to the block point incorporation of a fully compliant 

exterior Lighting system, regardless of the actual airplane delivery date. As described 

above, granting this petition is in the public~s interest and it will not adversely affect 

safety. 

Federal Register publication 

P.05/06 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for waiving the requirement for Federal Register 

publication because any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to the petitioner, 

and granting the petition as requested would not set a precedent. 

The FAA's analysis 

The FAA has reviewed the information provided by Boeing and has concluded that granting this 

exemption is in the public interest for the reasons discussed below. 

The existing exemption provides time for incorporation of an external lighting system to comply 

with the requirements of§ 25.809(a) during conditions of darkness. In granting the petition, the 

FAA established a date, whereby the delivery of any airplane after that date would be required to 

comply with the rule. Implicit in this gra11t was the assumption that airplanes would be delivered 

more or less in sequence, and once incorporated into production, the necessary design features 

would be included on all airplanes delivered after that. 

In this subsequent petition, Boeing has identified that a few early production airplanes might 

actually get delivered after the exemption compliance date. Since these airplanes were already 

presumed exempt, based on the tenns of the prior grant, requiring their compliance now, i.e., 

maintaining the current exemption provision, would impose design changes that were already 

determined to be burdensome. Thus, defining the exemption compliance date in terms of a 

specific production line "and-on~' is consistent with the original intent of the exemption. provided 

that production point is prior to the date jn the current exemption. When the first petition was 

received; the production incorporation was somewhat uncertain and therefore a date was called 

out, with a rough idea of the number of airplanes that would be affected. Now that the 

production incorporation is confirmed, and considering that the number of airpla11es oovered by 

the exemption will actually be smaller than originally thought, this change to the exemption 

makes sense. 

The FAA has reviewed the il1fonnation provided by Boeing and finds that modifying the terms of 

the exemption to specify a production line nwnber is acceptable. This takes into consideration 

the potential for out of sequence deliveries and the total number of airplanes ultimately covered 

by the exemption. For the reasons discussed above, an exemption applicable to a limited nur:nber 

of airplanes is justified and in the public interest. 

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The FAA's decision 

In consideration of the foregoing. I fmd that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. 

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 § 25.809(a)~ to 

pennit relief from the requirements that passenger emergency exits have a means to view outside 

conditions under all lighting situations for the Boeing Model 787-8 series airplanes, subject to 

the following limitations. 

1. For each airplane covered by this exemption, outside viewing means at each passenger 

emergency e:xit must meet all of the requirements of§ 25.809(a) in daylight conditions. 

2. This exemption does not apply to any airplanes produced after line number 126. 

3. This exemption is limited to 787-8 series airplanes only 

MAY 012D13 

#~on 

Ali Bahrami 

Manager. Transport Airplane Directorate 

Aircraft Certification Service 

TOTAL P.06