This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

45886 

Vol. 73, No. 153 

Thursday, August 7, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. NM393; Notice No. 25–08–06– 

SC] 

Special Conditions: Airbus A318, A319, 

A320, and A321 Series Airplanes; 

Astronautics Electronic Flight Bags 

With Lithium Battery Installations 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes special 

conditions for the Airbus A318, A319, 

A320, and A321 series airplanes. These 

airplanes, as modified by L2 Consulting 

Services, will have a novel or unusual 

design feature associated with 

Astronautics electronic flight bags 

which use lithium battery technology. 

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: We must receive your comments 

by September 22, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You must mail two copies 

of your comments to: Federal Aviation 

Administration, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Attention: Rules Docket 

(ANM–113), Docket No. NM393, 1601 

Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 

98057–3356. You may deliver two 

copies to the Transport Airplane 

Directorate at the above address. You 

must mark your comments: Docket No. 

NM393. You can inspect comments in 

the Rules Docket weekdays, except 

federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 

4 p.m. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nazih Khaouly, FAA, Airplane and 

Flight Crew Interface, ANM–111, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind 

Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 

98057–3356; telephone (425) 227–2432; 

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 ask that you send 

us two copies of written comments. 

We will file in the docket all 

comments we receive as well as a report 

summarizing each substantive public 

contact with FAA personnel about these 

special conditions. You can inspect the 

docket before and after the comment 

closing date. If you wish to review the 

docket in person, go to the address in 

the ADDRESSES section of this preamble 

between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except federal holidays. 

We will consider all comments we 

receive by the closing date for 

comments. We will consider comments 

filed late, if it is possible to do so 

without incurring expense or delay. We 

may change these special conditions 

based on the comments we receive. 

If you want us to let you know we 

received your comments on this 

proposal, send us a pre-addressed, 

stamped postcard on which the docket 

number appears. We will stamp the date 

on the postcard and mail it back to you. 

Background 

On March 12, 2007, L2 Consulting 

Services of Dripping Springs, Texas, 

applied for a supplemental type 

certificate to install Astronautics 

electronic flight bags on Airbus A318, 

A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes. 

In addition to lithium batteries, the 

Astronautics electronic flight bags 

contain the following equipment: 

• Multiple electronic flight bag 

display units, 

• Multiple electronic units 

(computer), 

• Electronic flight bag power On/Off 

switches, and 

• Mounting arms and mounting 

brackets. 

At present, there is limited experience 

with use of rechargeable lithium 

batteries in applications involving 

commercial aviation. However, other 

users of this technology, ranging from 

wireless telephone manufacturers to the 

electric vehicle industry, have noted 

safety problems with lithium batteries. 

These problems include overcharging, 

over-discharging, and flammability of 

cell components. 

1. Overcharging 

In general, lithium batteries are 

significantly more susceptible to 

internal failures that can result in selfsustaining increases in temperature and 

pressure (i.e., thermal runaway) than 

their nickel-cadmium or lead-acid 

counterparts. This is especially true for 

overcharging that causes heating and 

destabilization of the components of the 

cell, leading to the formation (by 

plating) of highly unstable metallic 

lithium. The metallic lithium can ignite, 

resulting in a self-sustaining fire or 

explosion. Finally, the severity of 

thermal runaway due to overcharging 

increases with increasing battery 

capacity due to the higher amount of 

electrolyte in large batteries. 

2. Over-Discharging 

Discharge of some types of lithium 

batteries beyond a certain voltage 

(typically 2.4 volts) can cause corrosion 

of the electrodes of the cell, resulting in 

loss of battery capacity that cannot be 

reversed by recharging. This loss of 

capacity may not be detected by the 

simple voltage measurements 

commonly available to flightcrews as a 

means of checking battery status—a 

problem shared with nickel-cadmium 

batteries. 

3. Flammability of Cell Components 

Unlike nickel-cadmium and lead-acid 

batteries, some types of lithium batteries 

use liquid electrolytes that are 

flammable. The electrolyte can serve as 

a source of fuel for an external fire, if 

there is a breach of the battery 

container. 

These problems experienced by users 

of lithium batteries raise concern about 

the use of these batteries in commercial 

aviation. Accordingly, the proposed use 

of lithium batteries in Astronautics 

electronic flight bags on Airbus A318, 

A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes 

has prompted the FAA to review the 

adequacy of existing regulations in Title 

14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 

part 25. Our review indicates that the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 153 / Thursday, August 7, 2008 / Proposed Rules 45887 

existing regulations do not adequately 

address several failure, operational, and 

maintenance characteristics of lithium 

batteries that could affect the safety and 

reliability of lithium battery 

installations. 

The intent of these special conditions 

is to establish appropriate airworthiness 

standards for lithium batteries in Airbus 

A318, A319, A320, and A321 series 

airplanes modified by L2 Consulting 

Services, and to ensure, as required by 

§ 25.601, that these battery installations 

are not hazardous or unreliable. 

Accordingly, these special conditions 

include the following requirements: 

• Those provisions of § 25.1353 

which are applicable to lithium 

batteries. 

• The flammable fluid fire protection 

provisions of § 25.863. 

In the past, this regulation was not 

applied to batteries of transport category 

airplanes, since the electrolytes used in 

lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries 

are not flammable. 

• New requirements to address the 

hazards of overcharging and overdischarging that are unique to lithium 

batteries. 

• New Instructions for Continuous 

Airworthiness that include maintenance 

requirements to ensure that batteries 

used as spares are maintained in an 

appropriate state of charge. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of 14 CFR 

21.101, L2 Consulting Services must 

show that the Airbus A318, A319, A320, 

and A321 series airplanes, as changed, 

continue to meet the applicable 

provisions of the regulations 

incorporated by reference in Type 

Certificate No. A28NM or the applicable 

regulations in effect on the date of 

application for the change. The 

regulations incorporated by reference in 

the type certificate are commonly 

referred to as the ‘‘original type 

certification basis.’’

The certification basis for Airbus 

A318, A319, A320, and A321 series 

airplanes includes applicable sections of 

part 25, effective February 1, 1965, as 

amended by Amendments 25–1 through 

25–56, plus other amendments for each 

model as indicated in Type Certificate 

No. A28NM. In addition, the 

certification basis includes certain 

special conditions, exemptions, 

equivalent levels of safety, or later 

amended sections of the applicable part 

25 that are not relevant to these special 

conditions. 

If the Administrator finds that the 

applicable airworthiness regulations 

(i.e., part 25, as amended) do not 

contain adequate or appropriate safety 

standards for Airbus A318, A319, A320, 

and A321 series airplanes because of a 

novel or unusual design feature, special 

conditions are prescribed under the 

provisions of 14 CFR 21.16. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the Airbus A318, A319, 

A320, and A321 series airplanes 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. 

The FAA issues special conditions, as 

defined in 14 CFR 11.19, under § 11.38, 

and they become part of the type 

certification basis in accordance with 

§ 21.101. 

Special conditions are initially 

applicable to the models for which they 

are issued. Should L2 Consulting 

Services apply for a supplemental type 

certificate to modify any other model 

included on Type Certificate No. 

A28NM to incorporate the same or 

similar novel or unusual design feature, 

these special conditions would also 

apply to the other model. 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The Airbus A318, A319, A320, and 

A321 series airplanes, as modified by L2 

Consulting Services, to include 

Astronautics electronic flight bags 

which use lithium battery technology, 

will incorporate a novel or unusual 

design feature. Because of rapid 

improvements in airplane technology, 

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. 

The Astronautics electronic flight 

bags will include lithium battery 

installations. Large, high capacity, 

rechargeable lithium batteries are a 

novel or unusual design feature in 

transport category airplanes. This type 

of battery has certain failure, 

operational, and maintenance 

characteristics that differ significantly 

from those of the nickel-cadmium and 

lead-acid rechargeable batteries 

currently approved for installation on 

large transport category airplanes. The 

FAA issues these special conditions to 

require that all characteristics of the 

lithium battery and its installation do 

not adversely affect the safe operation of 

the airplane. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the Airbus 

A318, A319, A320, and A321 series 

airplanes as modified by L2 Consulting 

Services. Should L2 Consulting Services 

apply at a later date for a supplemental 

type certificate to modify any other 

model included on Type Certificate No. 

A28NM to incorporate the same novel 

or unusual design feature, these special 

conditions would apply to that model as 

well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only certain novel 

or unusual design features of the Airbus 

A318, A319, A320, and A321 series 

airplanes as modified by L2 Consulting 

Services. It is not a rule of general 

applicability and affects only the 

applicant which applied to the FAA for 

approval of these features on the 

airplane. 

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 the 

Airbus A318, A319, A320, and A321 

series airplanes modified by L2 

Consulting Services in lieu of the 

requirements of § 25.1353(c)(1) through 

(c)(4), Amendment 25–113. 

Lithium batteries and battery 

installations on Airbus A318, A319, 

A320, and A321 series airplanes must 

be designed and installed as follows: 

1. Safe cell temperatures and 

pressures must be maintained during 

any foreseeable charging or discharging 

condition and during any failure of the 

charging or battery monitoring system 

not shown to be extremely remote. The 

lithium battery installation must 

preclude explosion in the event of those 

failures. 

2. Design of the lithium batteries must 

preclude the occurrence of selfsustaining, uncontrolled increases in 

temperature or pressure. 

3. No explosive or toxic gases emitted 

by any lithium battery in normal 

operation or as the result of any failure 

of the battery charging system, 

monitoring system, or battery 

installation which is not shown to be 

extremely remote may accumulate in 

hazardous quantities within the 

airplane. 

4. Installations of lithium batteries 

must meet the requirements of 

§ 25.863(a) through (d). 


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45888 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 153 / Thursday, August 7, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

5. No corrosive fluids or gases that 

may escape from any lithium battery 

may damage surrounding structure or 

any adjacent systems, equipment, or 

electrical wiring of the airplane in such 

a way as to cause a major or more severe 

failure condition, in accordance with 

§ 25.1309(b) and applicable regulatory 

guidance. 

6. Each lithium battery installation 

must have provisions to prevent any 

hazardous effect on structure or 

essential systems caused by the 

maximum amount of heat the battery 

can generate during a short circuit of the 

battery or of its individual cells. 

7. Lithium battery installations must 

have a system to control the charging 

rate of the battery automatically, so as 

to prevent battery overheating or 

overcharging, and, 

(a) A battery temperature sensing and 

over-temperature warning system with a 

means for automatically disconnecting 

the battery from its charging source in 

the event of an over-temperature 

condition, or 

(b) A battery failure sensing and 

warning system with a means for 

automatically disconnecting the battery 

from its charging source in the event of 

battery failure. 

8. Any lithium battery installation 

whose function is required for safe 

operation of the airplane must 

incorporate a monitoring and warning 

feature that will provide an indication 

to the appropriate flight crewmembers 

whenever the state-of-charge of the 

batteries has fallen below levels 

considered acceptable for dispatch of 

the airplane. 

9. The Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness required by § 25.1529 

must contain maintenance requirements 

to assure that the lithium battery is 

sufficiently charged at appropriate 

intervals specified by the battery 

manufacturer to ensure that batteries 

whose function is required for safe 

operation of the airplane will not 

degrade below specified ampere-hour 

levels sufficient to power the electronic 

flight bag applications that are required 

for continued safe flight and landing. 

The Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness must also contain 

procedures for the maintenance of 

lithium batteries in spares storage to 

prevent the replacement of batteries 

whose function is required for safe 

operation of the airplane with batteries 

that have experienced degraded charge 

retention ability or other damage due to 

prolonged storage at a low state of 

charge. Precautions should be included 

in the Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness maintenance instructions 

to prevent mishandling of the lithium 

battery which could result in shortcircuit or other unintentional damage 

that could result in personal injury or 

property damage. 

Note 1: The term ‘‘sufficiently charged’’

means a charge that is above a minimum 

level, expressed in ampere-hours, below 

which the battery will reduce its capacity to 

be fully charged and/or the ability to retain 

a complete charge. This reduction in 

charging and retaining a full charge capacity 

is below the original design capacity that 

may result from normal operational 

degradation. 

Note 2: These special conditions are not 

intended to replace § 25.1353(c), Amendment 

25–113 in the certification basis of the L2 

Consulting Services supplemental type 

certificate. These special conditions apply 

only to lithium batteries and their 

installations. The requirements of 

§ 25.1353(c), Amendment 25–113 remain in 

effect for batteries and battery installations 

on the L2 Consulting Services supplemental 

type certificate that do not use lithium 

batteries. 

Compliance with the requirements of 

these special conditions must be shown 

by test or analysis, with the concurrence 

of the Fort Worth Special Certification 

Office. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on July 29, 

2008. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–18139 Filed 8–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2008–0848; Directorate 

Identifier 2008–NM–082–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Saab Model 

SAAB 2000 Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for the 

products listed above. This proposed 

AD results from mandatory continuing 

airworthiness information (MCAI) 

originated by an aviation authority of 

another country to identify and correct 

an unsafe condition on an aviation 

product. The MCAI describes the unsafe 

condition as: 

Subsequent to accidents involving Fuel 

Tank System explosions in flight * * * and 

on ground, * * * Special Federal Aviation 

Regulation 88 (SFAR88) * * * required 

* * * a design review against explosion 

risks. 

* * * * * 

The unsafe condition is the potential of 

ignition sources inside fuel tanks, 

which, in combination with flammable 

fuel vapors, could result in fuel tank 

explosions and consequent loss of the 

airplane. The proposed AD would 

require actions that are intended to 

address the unsafe condition described 

in the MCAI. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by September 8, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M–

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M–

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–40, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC, 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 

regulatory 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 FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shahram Daneshmandi, Aerospace 

Engineer, International Branch, ANM–

116, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

FAA, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, 

Washington 98057–3356; telephone 

(425) 227–1112; fax (425) 227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to send any written 

relevant data, views, or arguments about 

this proposed AD. Send your comments 

to an address listed under the 

ADDRESSES section. Include ‘‘Docket No. 

FAA–2008–0848; Directorate Identifier 

2008–NM–082–AD’’ at the beginning of 

your comments. We specifically invite 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with PROPOSALS