Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/08/04/2010-19072/special-conditions-bombardier-inc-model-cl-600-2e25-series-airplane-passenger-seats-with
Timestamp: 2018-07-17 00:48:45
Document Index: 262582405

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 25', 'art 34', 'art 36', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u2009121', '§\u200925', 'art 25']

Federal Register :: Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc. Model CL-600-2E25 Series Airplane; Passenger Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels
Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc. Model CL-600-2E25 Series Airplane; Passenger Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels
The effective date of these special conditions is July 27, 2010. We must receive your comments by September 20, 2010.
Docket No. NM431
Special Conditions No. 25-409-SC
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-19072 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-19072
These special conditions are issued for the Bombardier Inc. Model CL-600-2E25 Series Airplane. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels that would affect survivability during a post-crash fire event. 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.
You must mail two copies of your comments to: Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane Directorate, Attn: Rules Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM431, 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. NM431. You can inspect comments in the Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Alan Sinclair, FAA, Airframe/Cabin Safety Branch, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-2195; Start Printed Page 46841facsimile (425) 227-1232; e-mail alan.sinclair@faa.gov.
The FAA has determined that notice of and opportunity for prior public comment on these special conditions is impracticable and would significantly delay issuance of the design approval and thus delivery of the affected aircraft. The substance of these special conditions has previously been subject to the public-comment process and received no substantive comments. The FAA therefore finds that good cause exists for making these special conditions effective upon issuance.
On February 28, 2007, Bombardier Inc., 400 Cote Vertu West, Dorval, Quebec, Canada, H4S 1Y9, applied for an amended type certificate for the Bombardier Model CL-600-2E25 airplane to be identified on Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) No. A21EA. The Model CL-600-2E25 series airplane will be a swept-wing, T-tail, twin-engine, fuselage-mounted turbofan-powered, single-aisle, medium-sized, transport-category airplane.
Under provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Bombardier must show that the Model CL-600-2E25 series airplane meets the applicable provisions of part 25, as amended by Amendments 25-1 through 25-119. If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for the Model CL-600-2E25 airplane because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under provisions of 14 CFR 21.16.
In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the Model CL-600-2E25 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. In addition, the FAA must issue a finding of regulatory adequacy pursuant to section 611 of Public Law 92-574, the “Noise Control Act of 1972.”
The Model CL-600-2E25 series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design feature: These models offer interior arrangements that include passenger seats that incorporate non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in lieu of the traditional metal frame covered by fabric. The flammability properties of these panels have been shown to significantly affect the survivability of occupants of the cabin in the event of fire. These seats are considered a novel design for transport-category airplanes that include Amendment 25-61 and Amendment 25-66 in the certification basis, and were not considered when those airworthiness standards were established.
“Exposed” is considered to include those panels directly exposed to the passenger cabin in the traditional sense, plus those panels enveloped such as by a dress cover. Traditional fabrics or leathers currently used on seats are excluded from these special conditions. Start Printed Page 46842These materials must still comply with § 25.853(a) and § 25.853(c) if used as a covering for a seat cushion, or § 25.853(a) if installed elsewhere on the seat. Non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels covered with traditional fabrics or leathers will be tested without their coverings or covering attachments.
In the early 1980s, the FAA conducted extensive research on the effects of post-crash flammability in the passenger cabin. As a result of this research and service experience, the FAA adopted new standards for interior surfaces associated with large-surface-area parts. Specifically, the rules require measurement of heat release and smoke emission (part 25, Appendix F, parts IV and V) for the affected parts. Heat release has been shown to have a direct correlation with post-crash fire-survival time. Materials that comply with the standards (i.e., § 25.853 entitled “Compartment interiors” as amended by Amendment 25-61 and Amendment 25-66) extend survival time by approximately 2 minutes over materials that do not comply.
At the time these standards were written, the potential application of the requirements of heat release and smoke emission to seats was explored. The seat frame itself was not a concern because it was primarily made of aluminum and contained only small amounts of non-metallic materials. The FAA determined that the overall effect on survivability was negligible, whether or not the food trays met the heat-release and smoke requirements. The requirements, therefore, did not address seats. The preambles to both the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), Notice No. 85-10 (50 FR 15038, April 16, 1985), and the Final Rule at Amendment 25-61 (51 FR 26206, July 21, 1986), specifically note that seats were excluded “because the recently-adopted standards for flammability of seat cushions will greatly inhibit involvement of the seats.”
Subsequently, the Final Rule at Amendment 25-83 (60 FR 6615, March 6, 1995) clarified the definition of minimum panel size:
It is not possible to cite a specific size that will apply in all installations; however, as a general rule, components with exposed-surface areas of one square foot or less may be considered small enough that they do not have to meet the new standards. Components with exposed-surface areas greater than two square feet may be considered large enough that they do have to meet the new standards. Those with exposed-surface areas greater than one square foot, but less than two square feet, must be considered in conjunction with the areas of the cabin in which they are installed before a determination could be made.
In the late 1990s, the FAA issued Policy Memorandum 97-112-39, “Guidance for Flammability Testing of Seat/Console Installations,” October 17, 1997 (http://rgl.faa.gov). That memo was issued when it became clear that seat designs were evolving to include large, non-metallic panels with surface areas that would impact survivability during a cabin-fire event, comparable to partitions or galleys. The memo noted that large-surface-area panels must comply with heat-release and smoke-emission requirements, even if they were attached to a seat. If the FAA had not issued such policy, seat designs could have been viewed as a loophole to the airworthiness standards that would result in an unacceptable decrease in survivability during a cabin fire event.
In October 2004, the FAA examined the appropriate flammability standards for passenger seats installed on transport-category airplanes that incorporated non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in lieu of the traditional metal covered by fabric. The FAA reviewed this design and determined that it represented the kind and quantity of material that should be required to pass the heat-release and smoke-emissions requirements. The FAA has determined that special conditions would be issued to apply the standards defined in § 25.853(d) to seats with large, non-metallic panels in their design.
Because the heat-release and smoke-emission testing requirements of § 25.853 are part of the type certification basis for the Model CL-600-2E25 series airplane, these special conditions are applicable to the Model CL-600-2E25 series airplane. Should Bombardier apply at a later date for a change to the type certificate to include another model incorporating the same novel or unusual design feature, the special conditions would apply to that model as well.
Seats do not have to meet these special conditions when installed in compartments that are not otherwise required to meet the test requirements of part 25, Appendix F, parts IV and V. This includes, for example, airplanes that do not have § 25.853, Amendment 25-61 or later, in their certification basis and those airplanes that do not need to comply with the requirements of § 121.312.
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on Bombardier Inc. Model CL-600-2E25 series airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability.
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 Bombardier Inc. Model CL-600-2E25 series airplane.
1. Except as provided in special condition number 3, below, compliance with heat-release and smoke-emission testing requirements per § 25.853, and Appendix F, parts IV and V, is required for seats that incorporate non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels that may be either a single component or multiple components in a concentrated area in their design.
3. Seats do not have to meet the test requirements of part 25, Appendix F, parts IV and V, when installed in compartments that are not otherwise required to meet these requirements. Examples include:Start Printed Page 46843
4. Only airplanes associated with new seat-certification programs approved after the effective date of these special conditions will be affected by the requirements in these special conditions. Previously certificated interiors on the existing airplane fleet, and follow-on deliveries of airplanes with previously certificated interiors, are not affected.
[FR Doc. 2010-19072 Filed 8-3-10; 8:45 am]