Document ID: FAA-2021-0705-0001
Agency: faa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Special Conditions: Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services USA, Airbus Helicopters Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 Helicopters; Stability Augmentation System and Automatic Flight Control System
Posted Date: 2022-01-10T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1068-1070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00096]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 27

[Docket No. FAA-2021-0705; Special Conditions No. 27-056-SC]

Special Conditions: Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services USA, 
Airbus Helicopters Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 Helicopters; Stability 
Augmentation System and Automatic Flight Control System

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special conditions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Airbus Helicopters 
(Airbus) Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters. These helicopters, as 
modified by Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services USA (Vector), will 
have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of 
technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for helicopters. 
This design feature is the installation of a stability augmentation 
system and automatic flight control system (SAS/AFCS). 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: These special conditions are effective January 10, 2022. Send 
comments on or before February 24, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA-2021-0705 using 
any of the following methods:
     Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to http://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.
    Privacy: Except for Confidential Business Information (CBI) as 
described in the following paragraph, and other information as 
described in 14 CFR 11.35, the FAA will post all comments received 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal 
information you provide. The FAA will also post a report summarizing 
each substantive verbal contact received about this document.
    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 
this document contain commercial or financial information that is 
customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and 
that is relevant or responsive to this document, 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 this 
document. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Marie Hogestad, 
Aircraft Information Systems Section, AIR-620, Technical Innovation 
Policy Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification 
Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 2200 S 216th Street, Des 
Moines, WA 98198; telephone 206-231-3157; email [email protected]. 
Comments the FAA receives, which are not specifically designated as 
CBI, will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking.
    Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at 
http://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: Marie Hogestad, Aircraft Information 
Systems Section, AIR-620, Technical Innovation Policy Branch, Policy 
and Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification Service, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 2200 S 216th Street, Des Moines, WA 98198; 
telephone 206-231-3157; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Reason for No Prior Notice and Comment Before Adoption

    The FAA has determined, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) 
and 553(d)(3), that notice of, and opportunity for prior public comment 
hereon are unnecessary because substantially identical special 
conditions have been previously subject to the public comment process 
in several prior instances such that the FAA is satisfied that new 
comments are unlikely. For the same reason, the FAA finds that good 
cause exists for adopting these special conditions upon issuance. The 
FAA is requesting comments to allow interested persons to submit views 
that may not have been submitted in response to the prior opportunities 
for comment.

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites 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.
    The FAA will consider all comments received by the closing date for 
comments. The FAA may change these special conditions based on the 
comments received.

Background

    On February 21, 2019, Vector applied for a supplemental type 
certificate for the installation of SAS/AFCS on the Airbus Model 
AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters. The Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 
helicopters are 14 CFR part 27 normal category, single turbine

[[Page 1069]]

engine, conventional helicopters designed for civil operation. These 
helicopters can carry up to six passengers with one pilot and have a 
maximum takeoff weight of up to 6,173 pounds, depending on the model 
configuration. The major design features include a three-blade main 
rotor, an anti-torque tail rotor system, skid landing gear, and a 
visual flight rule basic avionics configuration. Vector proposes to 
modify these model helicopters by installing the Thales Compact 
Autopilot System (CAPS), which is a 4-axis SAS/AFCS.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, Vector must show that the 
Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters, as changed, continue to 
meet the applicable provisions of the regulations listed in Type 
Certificate No. H9EU 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 27) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for the Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 
helicopters because of a novel or unusual design feature, special 
conditions are prescribed under the provisions of Sec.  21.16.
    Special conditions are initially applicable to the model for which 
they are issued. Should the applicant apply for a supplemental type 
certificate to modify any other model included on the same type 
certificate to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, 
these special conditions would also apply to the other model under 
Sec.  21.101.
    The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in 
accordance with Sec.  11.38, and they become part of the type 
certification basis under Sec.  21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Feature

    The Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters will incorporate 
the following novel or unusual design feature: SAS/AFCS. An AFCS is a 
system used to control the trajectory of an aircraft without constant 
input from the pilot. The AFCS allows the pilot to focus on other 
aspects of the operation, such as weather and other systems. SAS is 
another automatic control system; however, instead of maintaining the 
aircraft on a predetermined attitude or flight path, the SAS will 
reduce pilot workload by dampening the aircraft buffeting regardless of 
the attitude or flight path.

Discussion

    The Thales CAPS (SAS/AFCS) utilizes serial and parallel actuators 
installed in each control axis to provide an enhancement to basic 
aircraft stability and handling qualities and allow fully automatic 
vertical and lateral autopilot coupling. Consequently, the Thales CAPS 
installed in the Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters may 
include failure modes that could prevent continued safe flight and 
landing.
    When Sec.  27.1309(b) and (c) were promulgated, it was not 
envisioned that this type of rotorcraft would use systems whose 
failures could result in ``Catastrophic'' or ``Hazardous/Severe-Major'' 
failure conditions, or complex systems whose failures could result in 
``Major'' failure conditions, as defined in FAA Advisory Circular 27-1B 
Certification of Normal Category Rotorcraft (AC 27-1B). Accordingly, 
the crew's interaction with these types of systems and awareness of 
their behavior and operating condition was not addressed. Paragraph (c) 
of these special conditions addresses the crew's interaction with 
information concerning unsafe system operating conditions. An unsafe 
system operating condition would cause serious injuries or fatalities. 
Therefore, 14 CFR 27.1309 (b) and (c) do not adequately address the 
safety requirements to certify this type of system installation.
    The Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters type certification 
basis as modified by Vector does not contain adequate airworthiness 
standards for the SAS/AFCS. Therefore these special conditions require 
Vector to provide the FAA with a systems safety assessment (SSA) for 
the final SAS/AFCS installation configuration to adequately address the 
safety objectives established by the functional hazard assessment (FHA) 
required by Sec.  27.1309. This process will ensure that Vector 
adequately address all failure conditions and effects for the installed 
SAS/AFCS.
    The SSA process is part of the overall safety assessment process 
discussed in AC 27-1B and Society of Automotive Engineers document 
Aerospace Recommended Practice 4761, Guidelines and Methods for 
Conducting the Safety Assessment Process on Civil Airborne Systems and 
Equipment.
    These special conditions require that the SAS/AFCS installed on 
Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters meet the requirements to 
address the failure effects identified by the FHA adequately and 
subsequently verified by the SSA, within the defined design integrity 
requirements.
    Failure conditions are classified according to the severity of 
their effects on the rotorcraft. Radio Technical Commission for 
Aeronautics, Inc. (RTCA) Document DO-178C, Software Considerations in 
Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification, provides software design 
assurance levels most commonly used for the major, hazardous/severe-
major, and catastrophic failure condition categories. The SAS/AFCS 
equipment should be qualified for the expected installation 
environment. The FAA recognizes the test procedures prescribed in RTCA 
Document DO-160G, Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for 
Airborne Equipment, as acceptable methodologies for finding compliance 
with the environmental requirements. Equivalent environment test 
standards may also be acceptable.
    The environmental qualification provides data to show that the SAS/
AFCS can perform its intended function under the expected operating 
condition. Some of the main considerations for environmental concerns 
are installation locations and the resulting exposure to environmental 
conditions for the SAS/AFCS equipment, including considerations for 
other equipment that may also be affected environmentally by the SAS/
AFCS equipment installation. The level of environmental qualification 
must be related to the severity of the considered failure conditions 
and effects on the rotorcraft.
    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 
Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters with the SAS/AFCS 
installed. Should Vector apply at a later date for a supplemental type 
certificate to modify any other model included on Type Certificate No. 
H9EU to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, these 
special conditions would apply to that model as well.

Conclusion

    This action affects only a certain novel or unusual design feature 
on the Airbus Model AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters. It is not a rule 
of general applicability and affects only the applicant who applied to 
the FAA for approval of these features on these helicopters.

[[Page 1070]]

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 27

    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, 
44704.

The Special Conditions

    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 the Airbus Helicopters (Airbus) Model 
AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters, as modified by Vector Aerospace 
Helicopter Services USA.
    For certification of the stability augmentation system and 
automatic flight control system (SAS/AFSC) installed on Airbus Model 
AS350B2 and AS350B3 helicopters, instead of the requirements of 14 CFR 
27.1309(b) and (c), the following must be met:
    (a) These systems and their equipment must be designed and 
installed so that they do not adversely affect the safety of the 
rotorcraft or its occupants.
    (b) These systems and their associated components considered 
separately and in relation to other systems must be designed and 
installed so that:
    (1) The occurrence of any catastrophic failure condition is 
extremely improbable;
    (2) The occurrence of any hazardous failure condition is extremely 
remote; and
    (3) The occurrence of any major failure condition is remote.
    (c) Information concerning an unsafe system operating condition 
must be provided in a timely manner to the crew to enable them to take 
appropriate corrective action. An appropriate alert must be provided if 
immediate pilot awareness and immediate or subsequent corrective action 
are required. These systems and their controls, including indications 
and annunciations, must be designed to minimize crew errors that could 
create additional hazards.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 4, 2022.
Patrick R. Mullen,
Manager, Technical Innovation Policy Branch, Policy and Innovation 
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-00096 Filed 1-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P