U

. S. Deportment o f Tran sportation Federal Aviation Administration



## DEC 1 5 2016

Mr. Rafael Gustavo Fass in a Marqu es Emb raer S.A. Av. Bri g ad eiro F ar ia L ima , 2.170 12227

- 901 - S .J

. dos Ca mp os S P Brasil

D ea r Mr. Marqu es: Transport Airplane Directorate 1601 Lind Avenue , S.W. Renton, Washington 98057-3356

Exe mp tion No

. 1 0974B Regulatory D ocket No. F AA-20 13-0810

Thi s J etter is to inf orm you that we hav e again ex tended th e time l imit of Exe mp tion No. 10974. 

### It explains th e ba s is for our deci s ion a nd describes its effect. 

### The Basi s for Our Decision By letter no. GCF- 1 836/ 20 1 6 , dated September 2 , 201 6 , you peti tioned the Fe deral Av i at i on Ad mini st rat io n (FAA) , on beha l f of Embraer S.A. (E mbraer), to o nce again exte nd the t im e lim it o f Exe mp tio n No. 10974 to Janu ary I , 2019. Exemption No. 1 0974A prov ided relief fr o m the r equirements of Titl e 14 , Co d e of Federal Regulations (14CFR) section s 25.562(a) at Amendment 25 -64 , and 25. 78 5( b) at Amendment 25 -88 , and f rom FAA S pe c ial Conditions No. 25 -495-SC , condition 2(e) , to pro vi de exe mption from the lower-le g flail r equire m en t s , for the forward-most seat position o n a ll s ide-facing seats , on E mbraer Model EMB-545 and EMB

- 550 a i rplanes , throug h December 31 , 20 1 6; and p rov ided a timeframe w ithin which Embraer must develop a comprehe n s ive compliance plan and schedule for airplanes delivered after that date. Your petition to again ex te nd the exemptio n includes the same conditions and reasons re l ative to public in terest and safety that were the basis for granting the o ri g in a l exemption a nd extens ion. Yo ur p et it ion cites the FAA position that the installation of the leg
- flail prevention d ev ice affec t s the se at configuration s uch that , fo r the n ew seat des i g n to be ce tti fie d , comp li ance must b e s h own to the co mpl ete set of Special Cond i t i ons No

. 25-495- SC, in add iti on to the requirements of§§ 25.562 and 25

. 785, and Special Conditions No. 25- 623-SC, as a r eason for the need to agai n extend the exemption. Your pet it io n also cites that a nother reason for your req u est is the FAA 's recent research regarding a nthropomorphic test dum my (ATD) s ubmarining on side-faci n g d ivans , an d a n y resu l ting change in req uirement s or acceptable mean s of compliance for side-facing seat installation s. " Submar inin g" i s a term that describes the A T D transitioning from a vertical to a hori zonta l position , and the2

pelvic restraint movin g upward and off of the ATD p e l vis during a dynam ic test. Your petition for another amendme nt to further extend Exemp ti on No

. 10974 states that , becau se of these addit ional compliance d emo n strations, Embraer wi ll not be abl e t o certi fy the sidefac ing seat wi th the leg-flai l preven t ion device prior to th e D ecembe r 31 , 2016 , time l imit in Exemp ti on No. 10974A. Accordin g ly , your petition reques ted ext endin g the origi nal exemption to Januar y 1, 2019

. 

### Fe d era l Regist e r P u b li cati on The FAA has det erm in ed that good cause exists for wa iv in g the requirement fo r Federal R egiste r publication for public comment b ecause the exe mpti on, if granted, wo uld not se t a pr

ecedent; and any dela y in acting on this petition would b e detrimenta l to Embraer Mode l EMB-545 a nd EMB-550 a irp lane fl eet ope ra tions. Ou r Decis i o n The FAA acknowled ges the progress Embraer has made at this time 

### in develop in g and tes ting a de s ign that li mi ts passenger ax ia l ro t at i o n of the upper leg during eme rgency
landin g co ndition s. We ag ree that Embrae r must perform ad ditional tests to certi fy the new seat t o all ofthe app li cab le require me nt s. However, the FAA is ofthe und erstanding tha t additional tests shou ld not require two additional years to co mplete. Regarding FAA research on ATD s ubm ar ining , the FAA notes that the current Spec ial Co ndi tions No. 25-495-SC, condition 2(g), states, The pe lvic restra in t must remain on t h e ES

- 2re ATD ' s pelvis durin g t he impact and rebound phas es of the test. Thi s requirement prohibits ATD submarining during testi ng. The current E mbraer design doe s not mee t this requirement. Althoug h testing and show ing compliance i s Embraer ' s res p o n s ib i li ty, the FAA cond u cted r esearch that will benefit t h e pub l ic and industry 

### in ge neral, research Embrae r may choo se to use fo r this type certific at io n proje ct. The FAA 's research defin es a low- e ne rgy s ubmarinin g eve nt that could b e fou nd to provide an equiva lent le vel of safety to this requ ir e ment 

### in the spec ia l con di tions. We prov ided the resu lt s to Embraer, wh ic h may relieve E mbraer from re-des igning the seat sys tem to mee t the special conditions. Therefore , t hi s re s earc h and de velop me nt of c r iteria for an equivale nt- saf ety finding wi ll assist Emb rae r in certifying the seat in a tim e ly manner. The FAA has a l so rec e ntl y developed conce rn s about the cu rrent airbag d es ig n co mplian ce to S p ec ia l Co ndi tions No

. 25-623-SC , cond ition 6

. This cond i t ion states , The leg -fl ail a i rbag sys tem mu st not imped e rapid egress of occu pants from the airplane 10 secon d s after airbag deployment. T he FAA th erefore n o tifi e d E mbraer, in advance of th e ce rtification test in g , that E mbraer must address rapid egress with the deploy ed l eg -fl ai l a irb ag. A lthou gh the appl icant is respons ibl e fo r showing co mplianc e to the req uirements through testi ng and ana l ysis, the FAA p lans to evaluate , through research , the impact of generic leg-flail airbag co nfigu rat ion s on rapid egress. Thi s resea rc h s hou ld prov ide the FAA with the inf ormation necessary to g uide the applicant in deve lop ing acceptab le airbag configurat ions. We plan to compl e te thi s research ea rl y i n 2017.We find tha t the complex ity of the remaining issues to be re solved for the Embraer sidefacing seats , to meet Special Conditions No. 25-495-SC, combined wi th the public interest in both the FAA and Embraer completing the n ecessa ry analysis and testing, warrant an ex tension of this exemp tion for one year. 3

Therefore, und e r the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator has delegated to me , Embraer i s granted an additional extens ion to Exemption No. 10974 , allowi ng contin ued relief from the requirements of§§ 25.562(a) and 25.785(b) , and from FAA Spec ia l Conditions No. 25-495-SC , co ndition no. 2(e), for the lower leg-flail requireme nt s for the forward-most seat position on all side-facing seats on Embraer Model EMB-545 and EMB

- 550 airplanes. This exemption is extended until December 31, 2017. All other conditions of the original exemption , and amended Exemption No. 10974A , including the status-reportin g requirement s, remain in effect. 

### The Effect of Our Decision This amendment again changes the applicability of Exem ption No. 10974 , which was modified by amended Exemption No. 1 0974A , from all E mbraer Model EMB-545 and EMB 550 airplanes de l ivered through December 31 , 2016 , to all E mbraer Model EMB-545 and EMB-550 a i rplanes de l ivered through December 3 1 , 20 1 7. A ll other conditions and limitations of Exemption No. 10974 remain the same. This letter must be attach ed to, and is a part of, Exemption No. 10974. Sincerely, 

# {tJ /t%!

Victor Wick l und Acting Manager , Transport Airplane Directorate Aircraft Certification Serv ice