Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 5763 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–2438; Special 

Conditions No. 25–848–SC] 

Special Conditions: Gulfstream 

Aerospace Corporation Model GVIII– 

G700 and GVIII–G800 Series Airplanes; 

Installation of Large Non-Structural 

Glass in the Passenger Compartment 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comment. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace 

Corporation (Gulfstream) Model GVIII– 

G700 and GVIII–G800 series airplanes. 

These airplanes will have a novel or 

unusual design feature when compared 

to the state of technology envisioned in 

the airworthiness standards for 

transport-category airplanes. This 

design feature is the installation of large, 

non-structural glass items in the 

passenger cabin. 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 

Gulfstream on January 30, 2024. Send 

comments on or before March 15, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by Docket No. FAA–2023–2438 using 

any of the following methods: 

Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

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 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

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: 

Myra Kuck, Cabin Safety, routing 

symbol AIR–624, Technical Policy 

Branch, Policy and Standards Division, 

Aircraft Certification Service, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 3960 

Paramount Blvd., Lakewood, CA 90712; 

telephone and fax 405–666–1059; email 

Myra.J.Kuck@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

The substance of these special 

conditions has been published in the 

Federal Register for public comment in 

several prior instances with no 

substantive comments received. 

Therefore, the FAA finds, pursuant to 

14 CFR 138(b), that new comments are 

unlikely, and notice and comment prior 

to this publication are unnecessary. 

Privacy 

Except for Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) as described in the 

following paragraph, and other 

information as described in title 14 CFR 

11.35, the FAA will post all comments 

received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. The 

FAA will also post a report 

summarizing each substantive verbal 

contact received about these special 

conditions. 

Confidential Business Information 

Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) is commercial or financial 

information that is both customarily and 

actually treated as private by its owner. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt 

from public disclosure. If your 

comments responsive to these special 

conditions contain commercial or 

financial information that is customarily 

treated as private, that you actually treat 

as private, and that is relevant or 

responsive to these special conditions, it 

is important that you clearly designate 

the submitted comments as CBI. Please 

mark each page of your submission 

containing CBI as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA 

will treat such marked submissions as 

confidential under the FOIA, and the 

indicated comments will not be placed 

in the public docket of these special 

conditions. Send submissions 

containing CBI to the individual listed 

in the For Further Information Contact 

section above. Comments the FAA 

receives, which are not specifically 

designated as CBI, will be placed in the 

public docket for these special 

conditions. 

Background 

On December 31, 2019, Gulfstream 

applied for an amendment to Type 

Certificate No. T00015AT to include the 

new Model GVIII–G700 and GVIII–G800 

series airplanes. These airplanes, which 

are derivatives of the Model GVI 

currently approved under Type 

Certificate No. T00015AT, are twinengine, transport-category airplanes, 

with maximum seating for 19 

passengers, and a maximum take-off 

weight of 107,600 pounds (GVIII–G700) 

and 105,600 pounds (GVIII–G800). 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.101, 

Gulfstream must show that the Model 

GVIII–G700 and GVIII–G800 series 

airplanes meet the applicable provisions 

of the regulations listed in Type 

Certificate No. T00015AT, or the 

applicable regulations in effect on the 

date of application for the change, 

except for earlier amendments as agreed 

upon by the FAA. 

If the Administrator finds that the 

applicable airworthiness regulations 

(e.g., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for the Gulfstream Model GVIII–G700 

and GVIII–G800 series airplanes 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 type certificate 

for that model be amended later to 

include any other model that 

incorporates the same novel or unusual 

design feature, or should any other 

model already included on the same 

type certificate be modified 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 Gulfstream Model 

GVIII–G700 and GVIII–G800 series 

airplanes must comply with the 

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 14 CFR 11.38, and they become 

part of the type certification basis under 

§ 21.101. 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The Gulfstream Model GVIII–G700 

and GVIII–G800 airplanes will 


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5764 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

incorporate the following novel or 

unusual design feature: 

Installation of large, non-structural 

glass items in the passenger cabin. 

Possible installations of large nonstructural glass items include, but are 

not limited to, the following items: 

• Glass partitions 

• Glass floor installations 

• Glass attached to the ceiling 

• Glass parts integrated in the stairway 

• Wall or Door mounted mirrors and 

glass panels 

• Mirrors as part of a door blow out 

panel 

• Glass plate installed in a doorframe 

• Washstand with glass-panel 

• Mirrored bulkheads 

• Partial partitions with transparent 

glass decorative features 

The installation of these glass items in 

the passenger compartment, which can 

be occupied during taxi, take-off, and 

landing (TT&L), is a novel or unusual 

design feature with respect to the 

installed material. The applicable 

airworthiness regulations do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for these design features. 

Discussion 

The use of glass results in trade-offs 

between the one unique characteristic of 

glass, its capability for undistorted or 

controlled light transmittance, or 

transparency, and the negative aspects 

of the material. Glass, in its basic form 

as annealed, untreated sheet, plate or 

float glass, when compared to metals, is 

extremely notch-sensitive, has a low 

fracture resistance, has a low modulus 

of elasticity and can be highly variable 

in its properties. While reasonably 

strong, it 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 have been known to be 

lethal. Thus, the use of glass 

traditionally was limited to 

windshields, and instrument or display 

transparencies. The regulations in 14 

CFR 25.775 only address, and likewise 

only recognize, the unique use of glass 

in windshield or window applications 

where no other material will serve. This 

regulation does address the adverse 

properties of glass, but pilots 

occasionally are injured from shattered 

glass windshields. 

The FAA divides other uses of glass 

in the passenger cabin into four groups. 

These groups were created to address 

the practical and functional uses of 

glass. The four groups are as follows: 

1. The first group is glass items 

installed in rooms or areas in the cabin 

that are not occupied during taxi, 

takeoff, and landing (TT&L), and a 

person does not have to enter or pass 

through the room or area to get to any 

emergency exit. 

2. The second group is glass 

integrated into a functional device 

operation of which is dependent upon 

the characteristics of glass, such as 

instrument or indicator protective 

transparencies, or monitor screens such 

as liquid crystal displays, or plasma 

displays. This group may be installed in 

any area in the cabin regardless of 

occupancy during TT&L. Acceptable 

means of compliance for these items 

may depend on the size and specific 

location of the device containing the 

glass. 

3. The third group is small glass items 

installed in occupied rooms or areas 

during TT&L, or rooms or areas that a 

person does not have to enter or pass 

through to get to any emergency exit. 

The FAA defines a small glass item as 

less than 8.8 lbs (4kg) in mass. 

4. The fourth group is large glass 

items, the subject of these special 

conditions, installed in occupied rooms 

or areas during TT&L, or rooms or areas 

that a person must enter or pass through 

to get to an emergency exit. A large glass 

item is defined as 8.8 lbs (4kg) and 

greater in mass. Groups of glass items 

that collectively weigh 4kg or more 

would also be included. The mass is 

based on the amount of glass that 

becomes hazardous in high inertial 

loads. 

The glass items in groups one, two, 

and three are restricted to applications 

where the potential for injury is either 

highly localized (such as flightinstrument faces) or the location is such 

that injury due to failure of the glass is 

unlikely, for example mirrors in 

lavatories, because these installations 

necessitate the use of glass. These glass 

items typically are addressed in a 

‘‘Method of Compliance’’ issue paper for 

each project based on existing part 25 

regulations, or in established policy. 

These issue papers identify specific 

tests that could include abuse loading 

and ball-impact testing. In addition, 

these items are subject to the inertia 

loads contained in § 25.561 and 

maximum positive-differential pressure 

for items like video monitors to meet 

§ 25.789. 

The items in group four are much 

larger and heavier than have been 

previously approved and raise 

additional safety concerns. These large, 

heavy glass panels, primarily installed 

as architectural features, were not 

envisioned in the regulations. The 

unique aspects of glass, with the 

potential to become highly injurious or 

lethal objects during emergency landing, 

minor crash conditions, or in-flight, 

warrant a unique approach to 

certification that addresses the 

characteristics of glass that prevented its 

use in the past. These special conditions 

were developed to ensure that airplanes 

with large glass features in passenger 

cabins provide the same level of safety 

as airplanes using traditional, 

lightweight materials. The FAA 

reiterates this intention in the text of the 

special conditions by qualifying their 

use for group four glass items. 

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. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the 

Gulfstream Model GVIII–G700 and 

GVIII–G800 series airplanes. Should 

Gulfstream apply at a later date for a 

change to the type certificate to include 

another model that incorporates the 

same novel or unusual design feature, or 

should any other model already 

included on the same type certificate be 

modified to incorporate the same novel 

or unusual design feature, these special 

conditions would apply to the other 

model as well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only a certain 

novel or unusual design feature on 

Gulfstream Model GVIII–G700 and 

GVIII–G800 series 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. 

Authority Citation 

The authority citation for these 

special conditions is as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40113, 

44701, 44702, and 44704. 

The Special Conditions 

D Accordingly, pursuant to the 

authority delegated to me by the 

Administrator, the following special 

conditions are issued as part of the type 

certification basis for Gulfstream Model 

GVIII–G700 and GVIII–G800 series 

airplanes. 

For large glass items (a single item, or 

a collective group of glass items, that 

weigh 4 kg or more in mass) installed 

in passenger-occupied rooms or areas 

during taxi, takeoff, and landing, or 

installed in rooms or areas that 

occupants must enter or pass through to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 20 / Tuesday, January 30, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 5765 

access any emergency exit, the glass 

installations on the Gulfstream Model 

GVIII–G700 and GVIII–G800 series 

airplanes must meet the following 

conditions: 

1. Material Fragmentation—The glass 

used must be tempered or otherwise 

treated to ensure that when fractured, it 

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 this by 

impact and puncture testing and testing 

to failure. 

2. Strength—The glass component 

must be strong enough to meet 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. In 

addition, 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. The effect of design 

details such as geometric discontinuities 

or surface finish e.g., embossing, 

etching, etc., must be assessed. 

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. Both the directional loading 

and rebound conditions must be 

assessed. The effect of design details 

such as geometric discontinuities or 

surface finish e.g., embossing, etching, 

etc., must be assessed. 

4. Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness—The instructions for 

continued airworthiness must reflect the 

fastening method used and must ensure 

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

life limit of adhesives, or clamp 

connection). Inspection methods and 

intervals must be defined based upon 

adhesion data from the manufacturer of 

the adhesive or actual adhesion test 

data, if necessary. 

Issued in in Kansas City, Missouri, on 

January 24, 2024. 

Patrick R. Mullen, 

Manager, Technical Policy Branch, Policy and 

Standards Division, Aircraft Certification 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01739 Filed 1–29–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–2442; Special 

Conditions No. 25–850–SC] 

Special Conditions: Gulfstream 

Aerospace Corporation Model GVIII– 

G700 and GVIII–G800 Series Airplanes; 

Limit Pilot Forces for Side-Stick 

Controllers 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final special conditions; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: These special conditions are 

issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace 

Corporation (Gulfstream) Model GVIII– 

G700 and GVIII–G800 series airplanes. 

These airplanes will have a novel or 

unusual design feature when compared 

to the state of technology envisioned in 

the airworthiness standards for 

transport-category airplanes. This 

design feature is a side-stick controller 

for one-hand operation requiring wrist 

motion only, not arms. 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 

Gulfstream on January 30, 2024. Send 

comments on or before March 15, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by Docket No. FAA–2023–2442 using 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

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 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

• Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

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: 

Todd Martin, Airframe Section, AIR– 

622, Technical Policy Branch, Aircraft 

Certification Service, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 2200 South 216th 

Street, Des Moines, Washington 98198; 

telephone 206–231–3210; email 

Todd.Martin@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

substance of these special conditions 

has been published in the Federal 

Register for public comment in several 

prior instances with no substantive 

comments received. Therefore, the FAA 

finds, pursuant to title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 11.38(b), 

that new comments are unlikely, and 

notice and comment prior to this 

publication are unnecessary. 

Privacy 

Except for Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) as described in the 

following paragraph, and other 

information as described in title 14 CFR 

11.35, the FAA will post all comments 

received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. The 

FAA will also post a report 

summarizing each substantive verbal 

contact received about these special 

conditions. 

Confidential Business Information 

Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) is commercial or financial 

information that is both customarily and 

actually treated as private by its owner. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt 

from public disclosure. If your 

comments responsive to these special 

conditions contain commercial or 

financial information that is customarily 

treated as private, that you actually treat 

as private, and that is relevant or 

responsive to these special conditions, it 

is important that you clearly designate 

the submitted comments as CBI. Please 

mark each page of your submission 

containing CBI as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA 

will treat such marked submissions as 

confidential under the FOIA, and the 

indicated comments will not be placed 

in the public docket of these special 

conditions. Send submissions 

containing CBI to Todd Martin, 

Airframe Section, AIR–622, Technical 

Policy Branch, Aircraft Certification 

Service, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 2200 South 216th 

Street, Des Moines, Washington 98198; 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES