[Federal Register: January 5, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 3)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 675-676]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05ja05-3]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 25
[Docket No. NM297; Special Conditions No. 25-279-SC]
Special Conditions: Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon; Side-Facing
Single-Occupant Seats
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 Raytheon Model
4000 Horizon airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual
design feature associated with side-facing single-occupant seats. The
applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or
appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special
conditions contain the additional safety standards the Administrator
considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that
established by the existing airworthiness standards.
DATES: The effective date of these special conditions is December 22,
2004. Send your comments on or before February 22, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments on these special conditions may be mailed in
duplicate to: Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane
Directorate, Attn: Rules Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM297, 1601 Lind
Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98055-4056; or delivered in duplicate
to the Transport Airplane Directorate at the above address. Comments
must be marked: Docket No. NM297. Comments may be inspected in the
Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4
p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John A. Shelden, FAA, Airframe/Cabin
Safety Branch, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft
Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98055-
4056; telephone (425) 227-2785, facsimile (425) 227-1232.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The substance of these special conditions
has been subject to the notice and comment period in several prior
instances and has been derived without substantive change from those
previously issued. For this reason, and because a delay would
significantly affect the certification of the airplane, which is
imminent, the FAA has determined that prior public notice and comment
are unnecessary and impracticable, and good cause exists for adopting
these special conditions upon issuance. We are 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
We invite interested persons to participate in this rulemaking by
submitting 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
concerning these special conditions. The docket is available for public
inspection 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 on or before 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 in light of the comments we receive.
If you want the FAA to acknowledge receipt of your comments on
these special conditions, include with your comments 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 August 1, 1996, Raytheon Aircraft Company, 9709 E. Central,
Wichita, KS 67201, applied for a type certificate for their new Model
4000 Horizon airplane and reapplied on May 31, 2001. The Model 4000
Horizon is a twin-engine, pressurized executive jet airplane with
standard seating provisions for 10 passenger/crew and allowance for
baggage and optional equipment. This airplane will have a maximum
takeoff weight of 36,000 pounds and will have two aft-mounted Pratt &
Whitney PW 308A engines.
Type Certification Basis
Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, the Raytheon Aircraft Company
must show that the Model 4000 Horizon airplane meets the applicable
provisions of part 25, effective February 1, 1965, as amended by
amendment 25-1 through amendment 25-101.
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 Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon
airplane because of a novel or unusual design feature, special
conditions are prescribed under the provisions of Sec. 21.16.
In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special
conditions, the Raytheon Model 4000
[[Page 676]]
Horizon must comply with the fuel vent and exhaust emission
requirements of part 34, effective September 10, 1990, as amended by
any amendment in effect on the date of certification, and the noise
certification requirements of part 36, effective December 1, 1969, as
amended by any amendment in effect on the date of certification, and
the FAA must issue a finding of regulatory adequacy pursuant to Sec.
611 of Public Law 92-574, the ``Noise Control Act of 1972.''
Special conditions, as defined in Sec. 11.19, are issued in
accordance with Sec. 11.38 and become part of the type certification
basis in accordance with Sec. 21.17.
Special conditions are initially applicable to the model for which
they are issued. Should the type certificate for that model be amended
later to include any other model that incorporates the same novel or
unusual design feature, the special conditions would also apply to the
other model under the provisions of Sec. 21.101.
Novel or Unusual Design Features
The Raytheon Model 4000 offers interior arrangements, which include
single-occupant side-facing seat installations. One arrangement
includes an aft LH toilet installation, which will be approved for
occupancy during taxi, takeoff, and landing. The belted toilet seat is
a single-occupant side-facing seating system located directly behind
the LH aft pocket door partition. It consists of a toilet assembly,
toilet cabinet, forward partition, contact pad, and restraint system
(lap belt).
Section 25.785(b) requires that ``each seat * * * at each station
designated as occupiable during takeoff and landing must be designed so
that a person making proper use of these facilities will not suffer
serious injury in an emergency landing as a result of the inertia
forces specified in Sec. Sec. 25.561 and 25.562.'' Additionally, Sec.
25.562 requires dynamic testing of all seats occupied during takeoff
and landing. Side-facing seats, however, are considered a novel design
for transport category airplanes that include amendment 25-64 in the
certification basis, and were not considered when those airworthiness
standards were established. Hence, the existing regulations do not
provide adequate or appropriate safety standards for occupants of side-
facing seats. In order to provide a level of safety that is equivalent
to that afforded occupants of forward and aft-facing seats, additional
airworthiness standards, in the form of special conditions, are
necessary.
Discussion
The following special conditions are considered to provide
occupants of single occupancy side-facing seats a level of safety that
is equivalent to that afforded occupants of forward and aft-facing
seats. These special conditions supplement part 25 and, more
specifically, they supplement Sec. Sec. 25.785 and 25.562.
Applicability
As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the
Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon. Should Raytheon Aircraft Company 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 under the
provisions of Sec. 21.101.
Conclusion
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features
on the Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon airplane. It is not a rule of
general applicability, and it affects only the applicant who 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.
0
The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 44704.
The Special Conditions
0
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 Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon
airplane.
In addition to the airworthiness standards of Sec. Sec. 25.562 and
25.785, the minimum acceptable standards for dynamic certification of
Raytheon Model 4000 Horizon single-occupant side-facing seats are as
follows:
Additional Injury Criteria
(a) Existing Criteria: All injury protection criteria of Sec.
25.562(c)(1) through (c)(6) apply to the occupant of a side-facing
seat. Head Injury Criterion (HIC) assessments are required only for
head contact with the seat and/or adjacent structures.
(b) Body-to-Wall/Furnishing Contact: The seat must be installed aft
of a structure, such as an interior wall or furnishing, that will
support the pelvis, upper arm, chest, and head of an occupant seated
next to the structure. A conservative representation of the structure
and its stiffness must be included in the tests. It is recommended, but
not required, that the contact surface of this structure be covered
with at least two inches of energy-absorbing protective padding (foam
or equivalent), such as Ensolite.
(c) Thoracic Trauma: The Thoracic Trauma Index (TTI) injury
criterion must be substantiated by dynamic test or by rational
analysis, based on a previous test or tests of a similar seat
installation. Testing must be conducted with a Side Impact Dummy (SID),
as defined in 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F, or its equivalent. TTI must
be less than 85, as defined in 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F. TTI data
must be processed as defined in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) part 571.214, section S6.13.5.
(d) Pelvis: Pelvic lateral acceleration must be shown by dynamic
test or by rational analysis based on previous test(s) of a similar
seat installation to not exceed 130g. Pelvic acceleration data must be
processed as defined in FMVSS part 571.214, section S6.13.5.
(e) Shoulder Strap Loads: Where upper torso straps (shoulder
straps) are used for occupants, tension loads in individual straps must
not exceed 1,750 pounds. If dual straps are used for restraining the
upper torso, the total strap tension loads must not exceed 2,000
pounds.
Additional Test Requirements
The above performance measures must not be exceeded during the
following dynamic tests:
(a) Conduct a longitudinal test per Sec. 25.562(b)(2) with a SID,
undeformed floor, no yaw, and with all lateral structural supports
(armrests/walls).
Pass/fail injury assessments: TTI and pelvic acceleration.
(b) Conduct a longitudinal test per Sec. 25.562(b)(2) with the
Hybrid II ATD, deformed floor, 10 degrees yaw, and with all lateral
structural supports (armrests/walls).
Pass/fail injury assessments: HIC, upper torso restraint load,
restraint system retention and pelvic acceleration.
(c) Conduct a vertical test per Sec. 25.562(b)(1) with a Hybrid II
ATD with existing pass/fail criteria.
Issued in Renton, Washington, on December 22, 2004.
Kevin Mullin,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification
Service.
[FR Doc. 05-122 Filed 1-4-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P