Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380-800 Airplane, Flotation and Ditching, 46115-46116 [05-15660]

Agencies

• Federal Aviation Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 9, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46115-46116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15660]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. NM317; Notice No. 25-05-12-SC]


Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380-800 Airplane, Flotation and 
Ditching

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 flotation and ditching. 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. NM317, 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. NM317. 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

[[Page 46116]]

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 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

    While the main deck of the A380-800 airplane has five pairs of type 
A exits, these are not sufficient for the total number of persons on 
board the airplane. Therefore, the upper deck exits must also be used 
as ditching exits. As a result, these exits are being equipped with 
slide/rafts. With two decks, there is the possibility of interference 
between the slides or rafts of the upper deck and the slides or rafts 
of the main deck.
    Since 14 CFR part 25 does not address the use of upper deck exits 
as ditching exits, the FAA is proposing special conditions to ensure 
that occupants can be safely evacuated from these exits following a 
ditching event.

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 condition as part of the type certification basis for 
the Airbus A380-800 airplane.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec. Sec.  25.801, 25.807(i), 
25.810, 25.1411, and 25.1415, the following special conditions apply:
    a. For door sill heights that would be greater than six (6) feet 
above the waterline during a ditching event, an assist means must be 
provided from the airplane to the water.
    b. Boarding of the upper deck slide/rafts must be demonstrated for 
the rated and overload capacity of the slide/rafts from the 
representative door sill heights associated with planned and unplanned 
ditching. The boarding procedure must ensure that the occupants 
boarding the slide/rafts remain on the slide/raft whether the occupants 
enter the slide or raft by walking, jumping or sliding. In addition, 
the boarding procedure must not result in injury to either occupants 
entering the slide/raft or occupants already in the slide/raft.
    c. When door M3, the overwing exit on the main deck, is used to 
launch slide/rafts or life rafts, there must be means to prevent the 
release of the upper deck slide/rafts on top of the slide/raft or life 
rafts launched from that door. Those means may use either airplane 
design or a crew procedure.
    d. It must be demonstrated that the upper deck slide/rafts located 
at doors U1 and U2 (just forward and just aft of the wing) can be 
safely separated from the airplane. Safety considerations include 
damage to the slide/rafts, injury to occupants of the slide/raft, 
ejection of the occupants from the slide/raft into the water as a 
result of the contact with the wing, and the slide/raft becoming 
beached on the wing. Probable damage to the wing leading and trailing 
edge flight control structure during a water landing must be considered 
when assessing the damage caused to the slide/rafts or life rafts.
    e. It must be demonstrated that when the upper deck slide/rafts are 
separated from the airplane, they do not injure occupants of the slide/
raft, eject occupants of the slide/raft into the water, or damage the 
slide/raft in a way that affects its seaworthiness.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on July 19, 2005.
Ali Bahrami,
Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 05-15660 Filed 8-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P