Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/11/09/2012-27370/special-conditions-boeing-model-757-series-airplanes-seats-with-non-traditional-large-non-metallic
Timestamp: 2018-10-20 04:26:32
Document Index: 196683429

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 25', '§\u200921', 'art 25', '§\u200925', 'art 25', 'art 25', '§\u200921', 'art 25', '§\u200925', '§\u200925']

The effective date of these special conditions is November 5, 2012. We must receive your comments by December 24, 2012.
67251-67254 (4 pages)
Docket No. FAA-2012-1194
Special Conditions No. 25-472-SC
FAA-2012-1194
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-27370 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2012-27370
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John Shelden, FAA, Airframe and Cabin Safety Branch, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone 425-227-2785; facsimile 425 227-1232; email John.Shelden@faa.gov.
On April 5, 2012, Flight Structures, Inc. applied for a supplemental type certificate for installing seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in Boeing Model 757 series airplanes. The Boeing Model 757 series airplanes, currently approved under Type Certificate No. A2NM, are swept-wing, conventional tail, twin-engine, turbo-fan-powered, single aisle, medium-sized transport category airplanes.
The applicable regulations to airplanes currently approved under Type Certificate No. A2NM do not require seats to meet the more stringent flammability standards required of large, non-metallic panels in the cabin interior. At the time the applicable rules were written, seats were designed with a metal frame covered by fabric, not with large, non-metallic panels. Seats also met the then-recently-adopted standards for flammability of seat cushions. With the seat design being mostly fabric and metal, the contribution to a fire in the cabin had been minimized and was not considered a threat. For these reasons, seats did not need to be tested to heat release and smoke emission requirements.
Seat designs have now evolved to occasionally include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels. Taken in total, the surface area of these panels is on the same order as the sidewall and overhead stowage bin interior panels. To provide the level of passenger protection intended by the airworthiness standards, these non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in the cabin must meet the standards of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), part 25, Appendix F, parts IV and V, heat release and smoke emission requirements.
Under the provisions of § 21.101, Flight Structures, Inc. must show that the Boeing Model 757 series airplanes, as changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. A2NM 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 regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. A2NM are as follows:
For Boeing Model 757-200 series airplanes—part 25, as amended by Amendment 25-1 through Amendment 25-45. In addition, an equivalent safety finding exists with respect to § 25.853(c), Compartment interiors.
For Boeing Model 757-300 series airplanes—part 25, as amended by Amendment 25-1 through Amendment 25-85 with the exception listed: Section 25.853(d)(3), Compartment interiors, at Amendment 25-72.
If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for the Boeing Model 757 series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16.
A non-traditional, large, non-metallic panel, in this case, is defined as a panel with exposed-surface areas greater than 1.5 square feet installed per seat place. The panel may consist of either a single component or multiple components in a concentrated area. Examples of parts of the seat where these non-traditional panels are installed include, but are not limited to seat backs, bottoms and leg/foot rests, kick panels, back shells, credenzas and associated furniture. Examples of traditional exempted parts of the seat include: arm caps, armrest close-outs such as end bays and armrest-styled center consoles, food trays, video monitors, and shrouds.
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 titled “Compartment interiors” as amended by Amendment 25-61 and Amendment 25-66) extend survival time by approximately two 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 there were only small amounts of non- metallic materials. It was 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, 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.”
In the late 1990s, the FAA issued Policy Memorandum 97-112-39, Guidance for Flammability Testing of Seat/Console Installations, October 17, 1997. 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, an issue was raised regarding the appropriate flammability standards for passenger seats that incorporated non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in lieu of the traditional metal covered by fabric. The Seattle Aircraft Certification Office and Transport Standards Staff 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. We have determined that special conditions would be promulgated to apply the standards defined in § 25.853(d) to seats with large, non-metallic panels in their design.
As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the Boeing Model 757 series airplanes. Should Flight Structures, Inc. apply at a later date for a supplemental type certificate to modify any other model included on Type Certificate No. A2NM to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, the special conditions would apply to that model as well.
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on the Boeing Model 757 series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability and affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for approval of these features on the airplane.
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 Boeing Model 757 series airplanes modified by Flight Structures, Inc.