Feb. 7, 2014 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Docket Management Facility 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

West Building Ground Floor 

Room W12-140 

Washington, DC 20590 

Subject: Petition for Exemption from 14 CFR §25.785(h)(1) flight attendant direct view, §25.785(d) 

firm handhold, §25.791(a) no smoking placards, §25.813(e) doors between passenger compartments and 

§25.853(a)(1) maximum heat release rates for large panel cabin interior materials on an Airbus Model 

A330-200 airplane. 

Ref: Delta ODA STC Project no. ODA-2370-01 

Background: 

Delta Engineering is handling the certification for the completion of an executive business interior in 

Airbus Model A330-200 airplane. The NYACO FAA Organization Management Team (OMT) is 

reviewing our ODA Project Number ODA-2370-01 for this project. 

This exemption is a repeat request of recently granted exemption 10878 issued to Gore Design 

Completions Ltd. 

The certification basis of the Airbus A330-200 is 14 CFR Part 25, Amendments 25-1 through 25-63, 25-

65, 25-66, 25-68, 25-69, 25-73, 25-77, 25-78, 25-81, 25-82, 25-84 and 25-85 with numerous special 

conditions and equivalent safety findings. Also amendment levels 25-64 and 25-72 are met with 

exceptions. 

There are good technical arguments to support special consideration for private use airplanes: the 

airplanes are not for public hire and they are configured to carry a fraction of the passengers carried in 

airline service. For these reasons, Delta Engineering has prepared a petition for exemption to the 

following regulations: 

 
Regulation Amendment Requirements 

14 CFR §25.785(h)(1) Amendment 25-64 Flight attendant seats must be located to provide 

direct view of the cabin area. 

14 CFR §25.785(d) Amendment 25-64 Requires a “firm handhold” along each aisle. 

14 CFR 25.791(a) Amendment 25-32 Requires signs in the passenger cabin indicating when 

smoking is prohibited. 

14 CFR §25.807(d)(7) Amendment 25-55 

Gore exemption include 25.807(d)(7) at amendment 

25-72 but the certification basis for 25.807 per the 

TCDS A46NM is 25-55 so exemption for the 60 feet 

requirement is not required as granted by exemption 

10878. 

14 CFR §25.813(e) Amendment 25-46 No door may be installed in any partition between 

passenger compartments. 

14 CFR §25.853(a)(1) Amendment 25-66 Limits maximum heat release rates for large panel 

cabin interior materials. 

 

Discussion: 

14 CFR Part 25 governs design certification of transport category airplanes. The primary intent of these 

regulations, as written, are to be certain that airplane manufacturers provide the appropriate design 

features to meet the standards necessary to protect the traveling public. Clearly, there is a requirement 

“in the public interest” and in the interest of safety to provide regulatory guidelines for certification. 

However, it is also very clear these regulations are intended to regulate the certification of “commercial” 

airplanes, which are “for hire” to the general public. 

While the greatest majority of these regulations represent a common sense inclusion for any aircraft 

regardless of its intended use, a few are obviously intended to regulate situations that are specific to an 

airline, or for hire operation. When a transport category airplane is operated under 14 CFR Part 91 or 

Part 125, some of the Part 25 rules have acceptance criteria that are inappropriate, or are not compatible 

with the type of operation and the intended use of this airplane. 

The FAA clearly recognizes these differences as evidenced by the issuance of Exemption numbers 

6820A, 6822, 7120A, 7489, 9786 and numerous others which eliminate many of the more onerous 

regulations when applied to “private use, not-for hire” operations under 14 CFR Part 91 and Part 125. 

Basis for Exemption: 

The airplane that is the subject of this petition is an Airbus Model A330-200. It is privately owned and 

will be operated under Part 125 regulations or other equivalent non-US foreign national operational 

standard. In accordance with 14 CFR §11.81(h), we request to exercise the privilege of this exemption 

outside the United States since the operator of the airplane is located in Turkey. 

The interior configuration being installed in this airplane is planned to provide seating for ninety-eight 

(98) passengers (see attached floor plan drawing) for taxi, takeoff, and landing – 4 passengers in the 

office, 3 passengers in the conference room, and 91 passengers in business class. There are an additional 

10 seats in the lounge and six seats in the conference room that are not occupied for taxi, takeoff, and 

landing. 
The remaining seats in the cabin are to be occupied by crew only – three cabin attendants in the door 1 

area, two cabin attendants in the door 3 area, and four cabin attendants in the door 4 area. Two 

additional crew seats are in the crew rest area. The maximum certified passenger count for this airplane 

is 375 seats for three pairs of Type A and one pair of Type 1 exits configuration. The passenger count of 

the subject airplane represents just 24% of the capacity allowed for this airplane. 

Regulation 14 CFR §25.785(h)(1) 

Customers are buying these large airplanes as an extension of the office and are requiring privacy areas 

within the airplane sometimes spanning the whole cabin, such as board rooms, bedrooms, lavatories, and 

lounges rather than traditional airline type seating. An exemption to the flight attendant direct view 

requirement is therefore needed to allow the full use of the airplane capabilities. In addition, this 

requirement was incorporated into the FAA rules through amendment 25-51. Out of the comments 

submitted to the FAA during the NPRM comments period, two said that, if galley doors were used as 

emergency exits, the placement of an attendant seat near the exit preclude compliance with the 

requirement that the attendant be provided with direct view of the cabin area. To cover this situation, it 

was suggested that the requirement be conditioned to apply in so far as practicable and without 

compromising the proximity to required floor level exits. The FAA concurred and further stated in the 

preamble to the final rules that “location of the flight attendant seats near the floor level exits in this case 

is more important than the requirement to have a direct view of the cabin”. The final rule was revised 

from the NPRM proposal to address this relative importance. 

Regulation 14 CFR §25.785(d) 

Customers are buying airplanes because they wish to create a spacious and impressive atmosphere they 

are used to. The wide body of the A330 satisfies these requirements. On the other hand, the requirement 

for firm hand hold along the aisles cannot be met for certain areas in the passenger cabin due to the wide 

open spaces, specifically, the lounge, conference room and passageways. On a typical “commercial” 

flight this requirement is met by the individual seat backs which typically provide an adequate hand hold 

for a passenger to stabilize themselves in the aisle during turbulence. In fact due to the spaciousness of 

the interior there is no readily identifiable “aisle” in the conference room. Any construction hanging 

from the ceiling would ruin the appearance of the high quality interior, is not acceptable to the customer, 

and may add additional safety concerns. 

It has been acknowledged by the FAA, that the passengers on this type of airplane are typically the same 

people on most of the trips. Familiarity with the airplane layout and operation provides an addition 

benefit towards the level of safety. 

Regulation 14 CFR §25.791(a) 

The proposed VIP airplane is intended to be a non-smoking airplane. Placards will be displayed at each 

entry door indicating such and passengers are familiar with this designation of the airplane. An 

acceptable level of safety will be maintained with placement of placards different than required in the 

applicable rule but equally visible to all occupants upon boarding. Therefore, an exemption to the No 

Smoking Placards requirement, similar to that granted in Exemption 10686, is needed to meet the needs 

of the end customer. 

Regulation 14 CFR §25.813(e) 
There will be six manual mechanical pocket type doors (one each located at the office/bedroom and 

hallway/lounge doorways and two located each at the lounge/conference room and conference 

room/business class seating area doorways) and an electrically actuated mechanical pocket type door is 

located at the hallway/office doorway. Swing doors are located between passenger compartments in the 

hallway/bedroom and bedroom/VIP lavatory doorways. An additional swing door that is not between 

passenger compartments is located in the front entry/hallway doorway. Door between passenger 

compartments (except for the bedroom door) will have the following design features: dual latches (each 

of which are able to withstand the forces defined by 14 CFR §25.561) to secure them in the open 

position, cockpit annunciation of the door position for taxi, takeoff and landing, and the doors will be 

frangible in the event that they should become stuck in the closed position. The bedroom door will be 

placarded to be closed for taxi, takeoff and landing and this door will be shown to be frangible. 

Regulation 14 CFR §25.853(a)(1) 

With the sudden growth in the VIP or executive transport airplane market together with the 

simultaneous introduction of more stringent interior material flammability standards, aircraft interior 

modifiers have been faced with a serious dilemma in resolving the styling requirements of the private 

aircraft owner/operator of these executive aircraft and the flammability requirements imposed by 

§25.853. For the most part, modifiers have been able to simultaneously satisfy both the styling and 

interior material flammability requirements of §25.853(a) and (c) with great effort and diligence; 

however, many of the materials required in these aircraft interiors simply cannot pass the 65/65 heat 

release requirement of § 25.853(a)(1) no matter how diligent the designer is. It is not within the grasp of 

current technology to make certain natural materials conform to these standards and the owners of these 

airplanes define, in fact demand, the use of these materials. It should be understood that these aircraft 

must be outfitted in a style not unlike fine executive board rooms or luxurious residences to satisfy their 

private users. 

Occupant Safety Considerations: 

14 CFR §25.785(h)(1) 

Considering the reduced number of occupants in the business, private airplane, in this case 24% of that 

of a traditional commercial configuration, and the familiarity of the flight and cabin crews with the 

specific airplane, the passengers and the interior arrangement, and the wording of the existing rule that 

places the emphasis for safety on the proximity of the exit to the attendant over the ability of the 

attendant to view the cabin area, there should be no degradation in the passenger safety as a result of this 

requested exemption. 

14 CFR §25.785(d) 

The risk for occupants due to the non-availability of direct hand holds in certain areas of the airplane 

should be considered acceptable for the following reasons: 

● All furniture in the passenger cabin has rounded corners and edges to avoid serious injury in case 

of turbulence. 

● The installed seat and divans are heavily upholstered and will not cause injuries when contacted. 

● In the conference room, seat backs, tables, and furniture are readily within reach with one or two 

steps. 
● There will be a recommendation to passengers to remain seated with their seat belts fastened in 

case of turbulence during flight. 

● Occupants are intimately familiar with the interior arrangement. 

● The airplane will be operated under 14 CFR Part 125 and will not be operated for hire or offered 

for common carriage. 

14 CFR §25.791(a) 

There is no safety risk for occupants due to the special placement requirements of no smoking placards. 

14 CFR §25.813(e) 

The risk for occupants due to the use of doors between passenger compartments should be considered 

acceptable for the following reasons: 

● All doors between passenger compartments will be frangible. 

● The swing door between the bedroom and hallway will be placarded to be closed for takeoff and 

landing. 

● The pocked door between the office and bedroom will be placarded to be closed for takeoff and 

landing. 

● The pocket doors between the hallway and lounge, between the lounge and conference room, and 

between the conference room and business class area will be placarded to be open for takeoff and 

landing. 

● The doors between passenger compartments will have dual means to retain them in the open 

position for takeoff and landing, each of which will be capable of withstanding the inertia loads 

specified in 14 CFR §25.561. 

● The airplane will be operated under 14 CFR Part 125 and will be not be operated for hire or 

offered for common carriage. 

● The AFMS will provide procedures and limitations to ensure that the doors are in the proper 

position for takeoff and landing. 

14 CFR §25.853(a)(1) 

The vast majority of the rule was driven by the post-crash fire experiences in airline operations. The 

65/65 heat release regulation was specifically developed to reduce the likelihood of the flash-over 

phenomenon which was proven by tests to be a prime contributor to the rapid propagation of post-crash 

cabin interior fires and the generation of blinding smoke. Rapid fire propagation combined with the 

relatively slow rate of passenger evacuation from densely packed air carrier airplanes has proven to be a 

deadly combination during actual airline accidents. Since it is clear that material selection is being 

controlled by aesthetics in this application, we cannot exercise any real control over the actual heat 

release but the exposure time to this heat release is still within the designer’s control. Therefore, it is 

proposed as a first step in mitigating the fire hazard that an evacuation analysis be performed to show 

that all souls on board can be safely evacuated in less than 45 seconds. This would be possible because 

of excess emergency exits for the airplane passenger capacity, eleven flight attendants, smooth 

evacuation routes, and the small number of seats in the cabin. In addition, GDC will install fire detectors 

in the conference/dining room, office, lounge and bedroom that would compensate for the potential for 

an increased in-flight fire threat. 

 
Public Interest: 

As in the cases of numerous already established Exemptions, granting this petition for exemption would 

be clearly in the public interest for the following reasons: 

● It allows efficient and safe carriage of Head of State and executives in the sought for 

environment that would otherwise not be possible, 

● There is no degradation of safety involved with this request and therefore no detrimental impact 

to the public at large, 

● Increased sales of these executive configured transport airplanes will ultimately result in some 

portion of those airplanes being completed at US owned or operated aircraft completion 

facilities, providing improved financial performance and work force stability for those 

organizations as well, 

● Improved financial performance of US owned or operated corporations, and increased work 

force stability translates into continued and improved tax revenue for all governmental 

organization involved, 

● Improved financial performance allows US corporations to continue to invest in new R & D 

research which will allow the US to maintain or improve its competitive position in the world 

economy, 

● A large number of these types of sales can be predicted to be to “offshore” clients, improving the 

US balance of trade deficit. 

Public Comment: 

In accordance with 14 CFR 11.87, Delta Engineering Corporation, requests that the period for public 

comment be waived because of numerous similar exemptions that have previously been granted. 

If you have any questions regarding this data, please contact me. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan E. Moritz 

Delta Engineering 

13 DRBA Way 

New Castle, DE 19720 

(302) 325-9351