Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/10/29/E7-21240/special-conditions-boeing-model-767-series-airplanes-seats-with-non-traditional-large-non-metallic
Timestamp: 2018-04-25 17:05:48
Document Index: 573381799

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 25', 'art 25', 'art 25', '§\u200921', 'art 34', 'art 36', '§\u200925', '§\u200925', 'art 121', '§\u200925']

Federal Register :: Special Conditions: Boeing Model 767 Series Airplanes; Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels
Special Conditions: Boeing Model 767 Series Airplanes; Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels
72 FR 61079
61079-61082 (4 pages)
Docket No. NM382
Notice No. 25-07-14-SC
E7-21240
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-21240 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-21240
This action proposes special conditions for Boeing Model 767 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) 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 Start Printed Page 61080for 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.
You must mail two copies of your comments to: Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane Directorate, Attn: Rules Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM382, 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. NM382. You can inspect comments in the Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
On August 8, 2005, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124, applied for a design change to Type Certificate No. A1NM for installation of seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels in Boeing Model 767 series airplanes. The Boeing Model 767 series airplanes, currently approved under Type Certificate No. A1NM, are swept-wing, conventional tail, twin-engine, turbofan-powered, dual aisle, medium-sized transport category airplanes.
The applicable regulations to airplanes currently approved under Type Certificate No. A1NM 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.
Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, Boeing must show that the Model 767 series airplanes, as changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. A1NM, 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. A1NM are as follows:
For Model 767-200 and -300 airplanes—Title 14 CFR part 25, as amended by Amendment 25-1 through Amendment 25-37.
For Model 767-400ER airplanes—Title 14 CFR part 25, as amended by Amendment 25-1 through Amendment 25-37 with the exception listed: Section 25.853(d)(3), Compartment interiors, at Amendment 25-72.
In addition, the certification basis includes certain special conditions, exemptions, or later amended sections of the applicable part that are not Start Printed Page 61081relevant to these proposed special conditions.
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 767 series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16.
In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the Boeing Model 767 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 Boeing Model 767 series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: 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 the cabin in the case 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.
In October of 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 Start Printed Page 61082material 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 14 CFR 25.853(d) to seats with large, non-metallic panels in their design.
As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to Boeing Model 767 series airplanes. It is not our intent, however, to require seats with large, non-metallic panels to meet § 25.853, Appendix F, parts IV and V, if they are installed in cabins of airplanes that otherwise are not required to meet these standards. Because the heat release and smoke testing requirements of § 25.853 per Appendix F, parts IV and V, are not part of the type certification basis of the Model 767, these special conditions are only applicable if the Model 767 series airplanes are in 14 CFR part 121 operations. Section 121.312 requires compliance with the heat release and smoke testing requirements of § 25.853, for certain airplanes, irrespective of the type certification bases of those airplanes. For Model 767 series airplanes, these are the airplanes that would be affected by these special conditions. Should Boeing 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.
Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the following special conditions as part of the type certification basis for Boeing Model 767 series airplanes.
[FR Doc. E7-21240 Filed 10-26-07; 8:45 am]