Special Conditions: The Boeing Company Model 777 Series Airplanes; Seats With Inertia Locking Devices, 39235-39237 [2019-17051]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 154 / Friday, August 9, 2019 / Proposed Rules khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS conventional mini-suites with partial height surrounds). They are not remote from the main cabin, as are overhead crew rest areas, for example. Discussion This Boeing Model 777–9 series airplane HWS design is unique to part 25 since its design was not specifically considered during the development of § 25.795(c)(3), which requires that the interior design of the airplane deter the easy concealment of weapons, explosives, or other objects, and lessen the likelihood of overlooking such items during a search. Transport category airplanes contain many areas that are not readily visible, but are readily accessible. For example, areas above stowage bins may not be easily visible when conducting a search due to light fixtures that could inhibit both the visual and physical inspection, but these areas could be accessible places to hide an explosive device. The wall-toblended ceiling interfaces presented in the HWS designs are similar to overhead bin designs with respect to such challenges associated with conducting searches. However, as opposed to areas above overhead bins, which could exist in continuous sections in the passenger cabin, the search challenges associated with HWS designs may be limited when there are a relatively small number of installed suites. In consideration of the proposed HWS design, an installation incorporating six suites or less limits the search challenges due to the limited overhead area involved, which is similar to the search area presented by installation of a monument complex, for example. Installations incorporating six suites present a large overhead area that closely resembles the large overhead bin areas currently addressed by the rule and associated guidance material. Since the development of HWS designs were not specifically considered during development of the rule, a unique set of special conditions are needed for interior configurations incorporating HWS. 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. Existing airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate standards to address this feature. Applicability As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the Boeing Model 777–9 series airplanes with HWS installed. Should Boeing apply at a later VerDate Sep<11>2014 15:57 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 39235 date for a change to the type certificate to include another model incorporating the same novel or unusual design feature, these special conditions would apply to that model as well. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Conclusion [Docket No. FAA–2019–0541; Notice No. 25– 19–12–SC] This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on one model series airplane. It is not a rule of general applicability. Special Conditions: The Boeing Company Model 777 Series Airplanes; Seats With Inertia Locking Devices List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25 AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 25 Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions. Authority Citation SUMMARY: The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows: Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 44704. The Proposed Special Conditions Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the following special conditions as part of the type certification basis for the Boeing Model 777–9 series airplanes with HWS installed. These conditions are in addition to existing FAA Special Condition No. 25–703–SC published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2017 (82 FR 49492). Interior Design To Facilitate Searches for Passenger Cabin High Wall Suites 1. The area above each HWS must be designed such that there should be no hazards to a person performing a physical search above the HWS (e.g., no hot surfaces, no sharp edges, and no corners). 2. Where there are more than six (6) HWS installed on the aircraft, design features must be incorporated that will deter concealment or promote discovery of weapons, explosives, or objects from a simple inspection. Areas above the HWS must be designed to prevent objects from being hidden from view in a simple search from the aisle. 3. Guidance. The associated guidance material presented in Advisory Circular 25.795–8, Interior Design to Facilitate Searches, dated October 24, 2008, for airplane interiors can also be applied to HWS designs. Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on July 22, 2019. Victor Wicklund, Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2019–17091 Filed 8–8–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 This action proposes special conditions for The Boeing Company (Boeing) Model 777 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. This design feature is an inertia locking device (ILD) installed in passenger seats. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for 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. DATES: Send comments on or before September 23, 2019. ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA–2019–0541 using any of the following methods: • Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically. • Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. • Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202–493–2251. Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without change, to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the E:\FR\FM\09AUP1.SGM 09AUP1 39236 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 154 / Friday, August 9, 2019 / Proposed Rules individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s complete Privacy Act Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478). Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at https://www.regulations.gov/ at any time. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Lennon, Cabin and Airframe Safety Section, AIR–675, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 2200 South 216th Street, Des Moines, Washington 98198; telephone and fax 206–231–3209; email shannon.lennon@faa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments Invited We invite interested people to take part in this rulemaking by sending 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 will consider all comments we receive by the closing date for comments. We may change these special conditions based on the comments we receive. Background On December 6, 2013, Boeing applied for Type Certificate No. T00001SE for Model 777–9 series airplanes. On September 19, 2018, Boeing applied for a change to Type Certificate No. T00001SE for seats with inertia locking devices in Model 777 series airplanes. The Model 777 series airplane is a twinengine, transport-category airplane with a maximum takeoff weight of 775,000 pounds and seating for 495 passengers. khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS Type Certification Basis Under the provisions of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.101, Boeing must show that the Model 777 series airplanes, as changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations listed in Type Certificate No. T00001SE, or the applicable regulations in effect on the date of application for the change, except for earlier amendments as agreed upon by the FAA. VerDate Sep<11>2014 15:57 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for Boeing Model 777 series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16. 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 feature, these special conditions would also apply to the other model under § 21.101. In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, Boeing Model 777 series airplanes must comply with the fuelvent and exhaust-emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34, and the noisecertification requirements of 14 CFR part 36. The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in accordance with § 11.38, and they become part of the type certification basis under § 21.101. Novel or Unusual Design Features Boeing Model 777 series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: Seats with inertia locking devices. Discussion Boeing has proposed to install, in Model 777 series airplanes, Thompson Aero Seating Ltd. passenger seats that can be translated in the fore and aft direction by an electrically powered motor (actuator) that is attached to the seat primary structure. Under typical service-loading conditions, the motor internal brake is able to translate the seat and hold the seat in the translated position. However, under the inertial loads of emergency-landing loading conditions specified in 14 CFR 25.562, the motor internal brake may not be able to maintain the seat in the required position. The ILD is an ‘‘active’’ device intended to control seat movement (i.e., a system that mechanically deploys during an impact event) to lock the gears of the motor assembly in place. The ILD mechanism is activated by the higher inertial load factors that could occur during an emergency landing event. Each seat place incorporates two ILDs; one on either side of the seat pan. Only one ILD is required to hold an PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 occupied seat in position during worstcase dynamic loading specified in § 25.562. The ILD will self-activate only in the event of a predetermined airplane loading condition such as that occurring during crash or emergency landing, and will prevent excessive seat forward translation. A minimum level of protection must be provided if the seatlocking device does not deploy. The normal means of satisfying the structural and occupant protection requirements of § 25.562 result in a nonquantified, but nominally predictable, progressive structural deformation or reduction of injury severity for impact conditions less than the maximum specified by the rule. A seat using ILD technology, however, may involve a step change in protection for impacts below and above that at which the ILD activates and deploys to retain the seat pan in place. This could result in structural deformation or occupant injury output being higher at an intermediate impact condition than that resulting from the maximum impact condition. It is acceptable for such stepchange characteristics to exist, provided the resulting output does not exceed the maximum allowable criteria at any condition at which the ILD does or does not deploy, up to the maximum severity pulse specified by the requirements. The ideal triangular maximum severity pulse is defined in Advisory Circular (AC) 25.562–1B. For the evaluation and testing of less-severe pulses for purposes of assessing the effectiveness of the ILD deployment setting, a similar triangular pulse should be used with acceleration, rise time, and velocity change scaled accordingly. The magnitude of the required pulse should not deviate below the ideal pulse by more than 0.5g until 1.33 t1 is reached, where t1 represents the time interval between 0 and t1 on the referenced pulse shape as shown in AC 25.562–1B. This is an acceptable method of compliance to the test requirements of the special conditions. Proposed conditions 1 through 5 address ensuring that the ILD activates when intended in order to provide the necessary protection of occupants. This includes protection of a range of occupants under various accident conditions. Proposed conditions 6 through 10 address maintenance and reliability of the ILD, including any outside influences on the mechanism, to ensure it functions as intended. The proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety E:\FR\FM\09AUP1.SGM 09AUP1 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 154 / Friday, August 9, 2019 / Proposed Rules equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards. Applicability As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to Boeing Model 777 series airplanes. 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, these special conditions would apply to that model as well. Conclusion This action affects only one novel or unusual design feature on one model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability. List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25 Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Authority Citation The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows: Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 44704. khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS The Proposed Special Conditions Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the following special conditions as part of the type certification basis for Boeing Model 777 series airplanes. In addition to the requirements of § 25.562, passenger seats incorporating an inertia locking device (ILD) must meet the following: 1. Level of Protection Provided by ILD—It must be demonstrated by test that the seats and attachments, when subject to the emergency-landing dynamic conditions specified in § 25.562, and with one ILD not deployed, do not experience structural failure that could result in: a. Separation of the seat from the airplane floor. b. Separation of any part of the seat that could form a hazard to the seat occupant or any other airplane occupant. c. Failure of the occupant restraint or any other condition that could result in the occupant separating from the seat. 2. Protection Provided Below and Above the ILD Actuation Condition—If step-change effects on occupant protection exist for impacts below and above that at which the ILD deploys, tests must be performed to demonstrate that the occupant is shown to be protected at any condition at which the ILD does or does not deploy, up to the maximum severity pulse specified by § 25.562. Test conditions must take into VerDate Sep<11>2014 15:57 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 account any necessary tolerances for deployment. 3. Protection Over a Range of Crash Pulse Vectors—The ILD must be shown to function as intended for all test vectors specified in § 25.562. 4. Protection During Secondary Impacts—The ILD activation setting must be demonstrated to maximize the probability of the protection being available when needed, considering a secondary impact that is above the severity at which the device is intended to deploy up to the impact loading required by § 25.562. 5. Protection of Occupants other than 50th Percentile—Protection of occupants for a range of stature from a two-year-old child to a ninety-five percentile male must be shown. 6. Inadvertent Operation—It must be shown that any inadvertent operation of the ILD does not affect the performance of the device during a subsequent emergency landing. 7. Installation Protection—It must be shown that the ILD installation is protected from contamination and interference from foreign objects. 8. Reliability—The performance of the ILD must not be altered by the effects of wear, manufacturing tolerances, aging/ drying of lubricants, and corrosion. 9. Maintenance and Functional Checks—The design, installation, and operation of the ILD must be such that it is possible to functionally check the device in place. Additionally, a functional check method and a maintenance check interval must be included in the seat installer’s instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) document. 10. Release Function—If a means exists to release an inadvertently activated ILD, the release means must not introduce additional hidden failures that would prevent the ILD from functioning properly. Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on August 5, 2019. Victor Wicklund, Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2019–17051 Filed 8–8–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 39237 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 25 [Docket No. FAA–2019–0540; Notice No. 25– 19–11–SC] Special Conditions: The Boeing Company Model 737 Series Airplanes; Seats With Inertia Locking Devices Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions. AGENCY: This action proposes special conditions for The Boeing Company (Boeing) Model 737 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. This design feature is an inertia locking device (ILD) installed in passenger seats. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for 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. DATES: Send comments on or before September 23, 2019. ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA–2019–0540 using any of the following methods: • Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically. • Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. • Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202–493–2251. Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without change, to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\09AUP1.SGM 09AUP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39235-39237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17051]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2019-0541; Notice No. 25-19-12-SC]


Special Conditions: The Boeing Company Model 777 Series 
Airplanes; Seats With Inertia Locking Devices

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This action proposes special conditions for The Boeing Company 
(Boeing) Model 777 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel 
or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology 
envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category 
airplanes. This design feature is an inertia locking device (ILD) 
installed in passenger seats. The applicable airworthiness regulations 
do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for 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.

DATES: Send comments on or before September 23, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA-2019-0541 using 
any of the following methods:
     Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow the online instructions for sending 
your comments electronically.
     Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room 
W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket 
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
    Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without 
change, to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal 
information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the 
docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all 
comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the

[[Page 39236]]

individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an 
association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11, 
2000 (65 FR 19477-19478).
    Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at 
https://www.regulations.gov/ at any time. Follow the online instructions 
for accessing the docket or go to Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of 
the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Lennon, Cabin and Airframe 
Safety Section, AIR-675, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and 
Innovation Division, Aircraft Certification Service, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 2200 South 216th Street, Des Moines, Washington 98198; 
telephone and fax 206-231-3209; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited

    We invite interested people to take part in this rulemaking by 
sending 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 will consider all comments we receive by the closing date for 
comments. We may change these special conditions based on the comments 
we receive.

Background

    On December 6, 2013, Boeing applied for Type Certificate No. 
T00001SE for Model 777-9 series airplanes. On September 19, 2018, 
Boeing applied for a change to Type Certificate No. T00001SE for seats 
with inertia locking devices in Model 777 series airplanes. The Model 
777 series airplane is a twin-engine, transport-category airplane with 
a maximum takeoff weight of 775,000 pounds and seating for 495 
passengers.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 
CFR) 21.101, Boeing must show that the Model 777 series airplanes, as 
changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations 
listed in Type Certificate No. T00001SE, or the applicable regulations 
in effect on the date of application for the change, except for earlier 
amendments as agreed upon by the FAA.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for Boeing Model 777 series airplanes 
because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are 
prescribed under the provisions of Sec.  21.16.
    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 feature, these special conditions would also apply to 
the other model under Sec.  21.101.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special 
conditions, Boeing Model 777 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 FAA issues special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in 
accordance with Sec.  11.38, and they become part of the type 
certification basis under Sec.  21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    Boeing Model 777 series airplanes will incorporate the following 
novel or unusual design features:
    Seats with inertia locking devices.

Discussion

    Boeing has proposed to install, in Model 777 series airplanes, 
Thompson Aero Seating Ltd. passenger seats that can be translated in 
the fore and aft direction by an electrically powered motor (actuator) 
that is attached to the seat primary structure. Under typical service-
loading conditions, the motor internal brake is able to translate the 
seat and hold the seat in the translated position. However, under the 
inertial loads of emergency-landing loading conditions specified in 14 
CFR 25.562, the motor internal brake may not be able to maintain the 
seat in the required position. The ILD is an ``active'' device intended 
to control seat movement (i.e., a system that mechanically deploys 
during an impact event) to lock the gears of the motor assembly in 
place. The ILD mechanism is activated by the higher inertial load 
factors that could occur during an emergency landing event. Each seat 
place incorporates two ILDs; one on either side of the seat pan. Only 
one ILD is required to hold an occupied seat in position during worst-
case dynamic loading specified in Sec.  25.562.
    The ILD will self-activate only in the event of a predetermined 
airplane loading condition such as that occurring during crash or 
emergency landing, and will prevent excessive seat forward translation. 
A minimum level of protection must be provided if the seat-locking 
device does not deploy.
    The normal means of satisfying the structural and occupant 
protection requirements of Sec.  25.562 result in a non-quantified, but 
nominally predictable, progressive structural deformation or reduction 
of injury severity for impact conditions less than the maximum 
specified by the rule. A seat using ILD technology, however, may 
involve a step change in protection for impacts below and above that at 
which the ILD activates and deploys to retain the seat pan in place. 
This could result in structural deformation or occupant injury output 
being higher at an intermediate impact condition than that resulting 
from the maximum impact condition. It is acceptable for such step-
change characteristics to exist, provided the resulting output does not 
exceed the maximum allowable criteria at any condition at which the ILD 
does or does not deploy, up to the maximum severity pulse specified by 
the requirements.
    The ideal triangular maximum severity pulse is defined in Advisory 
Circular (AC) 25.562-1B. For the evaluation and testing of less-severe 
pulses for purposes of assessing the effectiveness of the ILD 
deployment setting, a similar triangular pulse should be used with 
acceleration, rise time, and velocity change scaled accordingly. The 
magnitude of the required pulse should not deviate below the ideal 
pulse by more than 0.5g until 1.33 t1 is reached, where 
t1 represents the time interval between 0 and t1 
on the referenced pulse shape as shown in AC 25.562-1B. This is an 
acceptable method of compliance to the test requirements of the special 
conditions.
    Proposed conditions 1 through 5 address ensuring that the ILD 
activates when intended in order to provide the necessary protection of 
occupants. This includes protection of a range of occupants under 
various accident conditions. Proposed conditions 6 through 10 address 
maintenance and reliability of the ILD, including any outside 
influences on the mechanism, to ensure it functions as intended.
    The proposed special conditions contain the additional safety 
standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a 
level of safety

[[Page 39237]]

equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to 
Boeing Model 777 series airplanes. 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, these special 
conditions would apply to that model as well.

Conclusion

    This action affects only one novel or unusual design feature on one 
model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25

    Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

Authority Citation

    The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

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

The Proposed Special Conditions

    Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the 
following special conditions as part of the type certification basis 
for Boeing Model 777 series airplanes.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec.  25.562, passenger seats 
incorporating an inertia locking device (ILD) must meet the following:
    1. Level of Protection Provided by ILD--It must be demonstrated by 
test that the seats and attachments, when subject to the emergency-
landing dynamic conditions specified in Sec.  25.562, and with one ILD 
not deployed, do not experience structural failure that could result 
in:
    a. Separation of the seat from the airplane floor.
    b. Separation of any part of the seat that could form a hazard to 
the seat occupant or any other airplane occupant.
    c. Failure of the occupant restraint or any other condition that 
could result in the occupant separating from the seat.
    2. Protection Provided Below and Above the ILD Actuation 
Condition--If step-change effects on occupant protection exist for 
impacts below and above that at which the ILD deploys, tests must be 
performed to demonstrate that the occupant is shown to be protected at 
any condition at which the ILD does or does not deploy, up to the 
maximum severity pulse specified by Sec.  25.562. Test conditions must 
take into account any necessary tolerances for deployment.
    3. Protection Over a Range of Crash Pulse Vectors--The ILD must be 
shown to function as intended for all test vectors specified in Sec.  
25.562.
    4. Protection During Secondary Impacts--The ILD activation setting 
must be demonstrated to maximize the probability of the protection 
being available when needed, considering a secondary impact that is 
above the severity at which the device is intended to deploy up to the 
impact loading required by Sec.  25.562.
    5. Protection of Occupants other than 50th Percentile--Protection 
of occupants for a range of stature from a two-year-old child to a 
ninety-five percentile male must be shown.
    6. Inadvertent Operation--It must be shown that any inadvertent 
operation of the ILD does not affect the performance of the device 
during a subsequent emergency landing.
    7. Installation Protection--It must be shown that the ILD 
installation is protected from contamination and interference from 
foreign objects.
    8. Reliability--The performance of the ILD must not be altered by 
the effects of wear, manufacturing tolerances, aging/drying of 
lubricants, and corrosion.
    9. Maintenance and Functional Checks--The design, installation, and 
operation of the ILD must be such that it is possible to functionally 
check the device in place. Additionally, a functional check method and 
a maintenance check interval must be included in the seat installer's 
instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) document.
    10. Release Function--If a means exists to release an inadvertently 
activated ILD, the release means must not introduce additional hidden 
failures that would prevent the ILD from functioning properly.

    Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on August 5, 2019.
Victor Wicklund,
Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, 
Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-17051 Filed 8-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P


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