Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380-800 Airplane, Escape Systems Installed in Non-Pressurized Compartments, 46099-46100 [05-15647]

Agencies

• Federal Aviation Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 9, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46099-46100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15647]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 152 / Tuesday, August 9, 2005 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 46099]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. NM318; Notice No. 25-05-13-SC]


Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380-800 Airplane, Escape 
Systems Installed in Non-Pressurized Compartments

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions.

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SUMMARY: This notice proposes special conditions for the Airbus A380-
800 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features 
when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the 
airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. Many of these 
novel or unusual design features are associated with the complex 
systems and the configuration of the airplane, including its full-
length double deck. For these design features, the applicable 
airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety 
standards regarding escape systems installed in non-pressurized 
compartments. 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. Additional special conditions will be 
issued for other novel or unusual design features of the Airbus Model 
A380-800 airplane.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 23, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposal may be mailed in duplicate to: 
Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane Directorate, 
Attention: Rules Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM318, 1601 Lind Avenue 
SW., Renton, Washington 98055-4056; or delivered in duplicate to the 
Transport Airplane Directorate at the above address. All comments must 
be marked: Docket No. NM318. 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: Holly Thorson, FAA, International 
Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98055-4056; telephone 
(425) 227-1357; facsimile (425) 227-1149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites 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 proposed 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 notice 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 the 
proposed special conditions in light of the comments we receive.
    If you want the FAA to acknowledge receipt of your comments on this 
proposal, 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

    Airbus applied for FAA certification/validation of the 
provisionally-designated Model A3XX-100 in its letter AI/L 810.0223/98, 
dated August 12, 1998, to the FAA. Application for certification by the 
Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) of Europe had been made on January 16, 
1998, reference AI/L 810.0019/98. In its letter to the FAA, Airbus 
requested an extension to the 5-year period for type certification in 
accordance with 14 CFR 21.17(c). The request was for an extension to a 
7-year period, using the date of the initial application letter to the 
JAA as the reference date. The reason given by Airbus for the request 
for extension is related to the technical challenges, complexity, and 
the number of new and novel features on the airplane. On November 12, 
1998, the Manager, Aircraft Engineering Division, AIR-100, granted 
Airbus' request for the 7-year period, based on the date of application 
to the JAA.
    In its letter AI/LE-A 828.0040/99 Issue 3, dated July 20, 2001, 
Airbus stated that its target date for type certification of the Model 
A380-800 has been moved from May 2005, to January 2006, to match the 
delivery date of the first production airplane. In accordance with 14 
CFR 21.17(d)(2), Airbus chose a new application date of April 20, 1999, 
and requested that the 7-year certification period which had already 
been approved be continued. The part 25 certification basis for the 
Model A380-800 airplane was adjusted to reflect the new application 
date.
    The Model A380-800 airplane will be an all-new, four-engine jet 
transport airplane with a full double-deck, two-aisle cabin. The 
maximum takeoff weight will be 1.235 million pounds with a typical 
three-class layout of 555 passengers.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Airbus must show that the 
Model A380-800 airplane meets the applicable provisions of 14 CFR part 
25, as amended by Amendments 25-1 through 25-98. If the Administrator 
finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain 
adequate or appropriate safety standards for the Airbus A380-800 
airplane because of novel or unusual design features, special 
conditions are prescribed under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.16.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special 
conditions, the Airbus Model A380-800 airplane must comply with the 
fuel vent and exhaust emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the 
noise certification requirements of 14 CFR

[[Page 46100]]

part 36. In addition, the FAA must issue a finding of regulatory 
adequacy pursuant to section 611 of Public Law 93-574, the ``Noise 
Control Act of 1972.''
    Special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, are issued in 
accordance with 14 CFR 11.38 and become part of the type certification 
basis in accordance with 14 CFR 21.17(a)(2), Amendment 21-69, effective 
September 16, 1991.
    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, or should any other model already included on 
the same type certificate be modified to incorporate the same novel or 
unusual design features, the special conditions would also apply to the 
other model under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101(a)(1), Amendment 21-
69, effective September 16, 1991.

Discussion of Novel or Unusual Design Features

    All of the escape systems on the upper deck and one pair of the 
escape systems on the main deck of this airplane are installed in non-
pressurized compartments. These non-pressurized compartments will be 
exposed to extremely cold temperatures on every flight.
    When the certification testing was conducted for previous airplane 
programs, the FAA considered that the extreme environmental conditions 
to which the escape systems can be exposed would be independent of 
other certification criteria. For example, the escape system would be 
tested under conditions of extreme cold in one test and exposed to 25-
knot winds at ambient temperature in a separate test. On the Model 
A380-800 airplane, however, all the upper deck escape systems and one 
pair of the main deck escape systems are located in non-pressurized 
compartments. As a result, these escape systems will be exposed to 
extremely cold temperatures on every flight. Therefore, the escape 
systems must be tested under conditions of both extremely cold 
temperatures and strong winds.
    In the past, several airplanes have had a pair of escape systems 
installed in non-pressurized compartments. These escape systems were 
off-wing systems that are less affected by wind than are other escape 
systems, and only one pair of exits was affected. Testing the combined 
effects of extremely cold temperature and strong winds was not required 
for these systems. On the A380, however, one-half of the escape systems 
are installed in non-pressurized compartments. Therefore, the adverse 
effects of a failure of the escape system--due to the combination of 
extremely cold temperatures and strong wind--would be much more severe.
    The regulations do not adequately address escape systems installed 
in non-pressurized compartments; therefore, the FAA is proposing a 
special condition to require the applicant to demonstrate that escape 
systems in non-pressurized compartments function properly when exposed 
to both extremely cold temperatures and strong winds.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Airbus A380-800 airplane. Should Airbus apply at a later date for a 
change to the type certificate to include another model incorporating 
the same novel or unusual design features, these special conditions 
would apply to that model as well under the provisions of Sec.  
21.101(a)(1), Amendment 21-69, effective September 16, 1991.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
of the Airbus A380-800 airplane. It is not a rule of general 
applicability, and it affects only the applicant which 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.
    The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 44704.

The Proposed Special Conditions

    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by the 
Administrator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the 
following special conditions as part of the type certification basis 
for the Airbus A380-800 airplane.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec. Sec.  25.810, 25.1301 and 
25.1309, the following special condition applies:
    For the escape systems on the Model A380 airplane that are 
installed in non-pressurized compartments and thus are exposed to 
extremely cold temperatures on every flight, it must be demonstrated 
that the escape systems function properly in the combination of the 
cold soak associated with long flight at altitude and a 25-knot wind 
from the critical angle.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on July 19, 2005.
Ali Bahrami,
Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 05-15647 Filed 8-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P