Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380 Airplanes; Stairways Between Decks, 43674-43676 [2019-18061]

Agencies

• Federal Aviation Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 163 (Thursday, August 22, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43674-43676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18061]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2019-0283; Special Conditions No. 25-326A-SC]


Special Conditions: Airbus Model A380 Airplanes; Stairways 
Between Decks

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final amended special conditions.

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SUMMARY: These amended special conditions are issued for the Airbus 
Model A380 airplane. By issuance of this amendment to the special 
condition, the FAA is correcting an error that appeared in the Federal 
Register on August 28, 2006, for Special Conditions No. 25-326-SC, 
Docket No. NM314. 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. This design 
feature is associated with the complex systems and the configuration of 
the airplane, including its full-length double deck. The applicable 
airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety 
standards for this design feature. These 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: Effective September 23, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Jacquet, Airframe and Cabin 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 206-231-3208; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Airbus requested an amendment to Special Condition No. 25-326-SC in 
letter L2578ME1831060 revision 1, dated November 21, 2018. This letter 
states:

    The Special Conditions applicable to the stairways on full-
length double-deck airplane were extensively discussed in the Very 
Large Transport Aircraft conference, on October 1998 in 
Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands and in the Cabin Safety Meeting 
between FAA, EASA, and Airbus, held in Hamburg, Feb. 25, 2003. In 
the latter meeting, the Special Conditions have been aligned.
    However, Airbus noticed that the Special Conditions for the 
availability of stairs published in the Federal Register (Special 
Condition No. 25-326-SC from September 11, 2006) require more when 
compared to Special Conditions of IP-C1 Stage 4 Airbus received June 
13, 2003.
    Special Condition No. 25-326-SC reads:
    a. At least one stairway between decks must meet the following 
requirements: The stairway accommodates the carriage of an 
incapacitated person from one deck to the other. The crew member 
procedures for such carriage must be established.
    b. There must be at least two stairways between decks that meet 
the following requirements: The stairways must be designed such that 
evacuees can achieve an adequate rate for going down or going up 
under probable emergency conditions, including a condition in which 
a person falls or is incapacitated while on a stairway. One of the 
stairways must be the stairway specified in paragraph a. above.
    For whatever reasons, the consideration of the condition in 
which a person falls or is incapacitated while on the stairs re-
appears. Resulting from the A380 Certification Meeting held in 
Hamburg this was agreed to be not required by the IP.
    It was the FAA position that this type of demonstration is not 
required for the main passenger aisle in the airplane and therefore 
should not be required for the stairways.
    The Stage 4 of the IP-C1, dated February 25, 2003 received for 
A380 Type Certificate thus reads as follows:
    A. At least two stairways between decks must meet the following 
requirements:
    (1) At least one of the stairways must accommodate the carriage 
of an incapacitated person from one deck to the other. The crew 
member procedures for such a carriage must be established.
    (2) The stairways must be designed such that evacuees can be 
shown to achieve an adequate rate, for going down or going up, under 
probable emergency conditions.
    All further Special Conditions published in the Federal Register 
(Sec. Sec.  c though e) are identical to the Special Conditions of 
the IP (Sec. Sec.  B though D), however using a different wording.
    Since the IP-C1, Stage 4 is the bilateral agreement between FAA 
and Airbus, and the Federal Register is available to the public, 
Airbus would appreciate the correction of the Special Condition 
published in the Federal Register under 25-326-SC. This would avoid 
any misunderstanding in the A380 future.

    During initial discussions with Airbus regarding the special 
conditions, the FAA had included a requirement that the stairways be 
designed such that evacuees can achieve an adequate rate going down or 
up under probable emergency conditions, including a condition in which 
a person falls or is incapacitated while on the stairway. Airbus agreed 
with the requirement except for the portion pertaining to a person 
falling or being incapacitated. The FAA documented agreement with 
Airbus's position. Unfortunately the special conditions were issued 
with the FAA's initial proposal rather than the final agreement, and 
stated that the stairs be designed such that evacuees can achieve an 
adequate rate going up or down the stairs under probable emergency 
conditions including a condition in which a person falls or is 
incapacitated while on the stairway.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Airbus must show that the 
Model A380 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 Model A380 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 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.
    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).
    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 14 CFR 21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Airbus Model A380 airplane will incorporate the following novel 
or unusual design features: This airplane has a full-length double 
deck. For these design features, the applicable airworthiness 
regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards 
regarding stairways between decks.

Discussion

    The Model A380 airplane incorporates seating on two full-length 
passenger decks, each of which has the capacity of a typical wide body 
airplane. Two staircases, one located in the front of the cabin and one 
located in the rear, allow for the movement of persons between decks. 
With large seating capacities on the main deck and the upper deck of 
the Model A380 airplane, the staircases need to be able to support 
movement between decks in an inflight emergency. In addition, although

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compliance with the evacuation demonstration requirements of Sec.  
25.803 does not depend on the use of stairs, there must be a way for 
passengers on one deck to move to the other deck during an emergency 
evacuation. This need must be addressed in the certification of the 
airplane.
    The regulations governing the certification of the Model A380 
airplane do not adequately address a passenger airplane with two 
separate full-length decks for passengers. The Boeing Model 747 and the 
Lockheed Model L-1011 airplanes were certificated with limited seating 
capacity on two separate decks, and special conditions were issued to 
certificate those arrangements. When the seating capacity of the upper 
deck of the Boeing Model 747 airplane exceeded 24 passengers, the FAA 
issued Special Conditions 25-61-NW-1 for a maximum seating capacity of 
32 passengers on the upper deck for take-off and landing. A second set 
of Special Conditions, 25-71-NW-3, was issued to cover airplanes with a 
maximum seating capacity of 45 passengers on the upper deck for take-
off and landing. That second set of Special Conditions was later 
modified to address airplanes with a maximum seating capacity of 110 
passengers on the upper deck. These previously issued special 
conditions provided a starting point for the development of special 
conditions for the Model A380 airplane.
    In the case of both the Model L-1011 and the Model 747 airplanes, 
the special conditions were based on the requirements and associated 
level of safety in place at the time of application for type 
certificate. The requirements and the level of safety have improved 
significantly since that time, and these special conditions reflect 
those improvements.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec. Sec.  25.803 and 25.811 
through 25.813, special conditions are needed to address the movement 
of passengers between the two full-length decks on the Model A380 
airplane. These special conditions provide additional requirements for 
the stairways to ensure the safe passage of occupants between decks 
during moderate turbulence, an inflight emergency, or an emergency 
evacuation.
    The 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.

Discussion of Comments

    The FAA issued Notice of Proposed Amended Special Conditions No. 
25-19-04-SC for the Airbus Model A380 airplane, which was published in 
the Federal Register on May 3, 2019 (84 FR 18997). The FAA received a 
response from one commenter.
    The commenter feels that stairwells should be designed for ingress 
and egress above the minimum standards identified in the special 
condition. However, the commenter did not propose any additional 
standard that Airbus should meet nor specify why meeting the minimum 
standards, of the special condition, was unsafe. As a result, no 
changes have been made to the special condition.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Airbus Model A380 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.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
of the Airbus Model A380 airplane. 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 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 Airbus Model A380 airplane.

Airbus Model A380, Stairways Between Decks

    1. At least one stairway between decks must meet the following 
requirements:
    The stairway accommodates the carriage of an incapacitated person 
from one deck to the other. The crew member procedures for such 
carriage must be established.
    2. There must be at least two stairways between decks that meet the 
following requirements: The stairways must be designed such that 
evacuees can achieve an adequate rate for going down or going up under 
probable emergency conditions. One of the stairways must be the 
stairway specified in paragraph 1. above.
    3. Each stairway between decks must meet the following 
requirements:
    a. It must have an entrance, exit, and gradient characteristics 
that, with the assistance of a crew member, would allow the passengers 
of one deck to merge with passengers of the other deck during an 
evacuation and exit the airplane. These entrance, exit, and gradient 
characteristics must occur with the airplane in level attitude and in 
each attitude resulting from the collapse of any one or more legs of 
the landing gear. These requirements must be demonstrated by tests or 
analysis.
    b. The stairway must have a handrail on at least one side in order 
to allow people to steady themselves during foreseeable conditions, 
including but not limited to the condition of gear collapse on the 
ground and moderate turbulence in flight. The handrails must be 
constructed so that there will be no obstruction on them which will 
cause the user to release their grip on the handrail, or will hinder 
the continuous movement of the hands along the handrail. Handrails must 
be terminated in a manner which will not obstruct pedestrian travel or 
create a hazard. Adequacy of the design must be demonstrated by using 
persons representative of the 5% female and the 95% male.
    c. The stairway must be designed and located to minimize damage to 
it during an emergency landing or ditching.
    d. The stairway must have a wall or the equivalent on each side to 
minimize the risk of falling and to facilitate use of the stairway 
under conditions of abnormal airplane attitude.
    e. Treads and landings must be designed and demonstrated to be free 
of hazard. The landing area at each deck level must be demonstrated to 
be adequate in terms of flow rate for the maximum number of people that 
will be using the stair in an emergency. Treads and risers must be 
designed to ensure an easy and safe use of the stairway.
    f. General emergency illumination must be provided so that, when 
measured along the centerlines of each tread and landing-, the 
illumination is not less than 0.05 foot-candle.
    g. In normal operation, the general illumination level must not be 
less than 0.05 foot-candles. The assessment must be done under daylight 
and dark of night conditions.
    h. Both stairway ends must be indicated by an exit sign visible to 
passengers when in the stairway. This exit sign must meet the 
requirements of Sec.  25.812(b)(1)(ii).

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    i. A floor-proximity path-marking system, which meets the 
requirements of Sec.  25.812(e), must be available to guide passengers 
in the stairway to the stairway ends. It must not direct the occupants 
of the cabin to the stair entrance.
    j. The public address system must be audible in the stairway during 
all flight phases.
    k. ``No smoking'' and ``return to seat'' signs must be installed 
and must be visible in the stairway both going up and down, and at the 
stairway entrances.
    4. Cabin crew procedures and positions must be established to 
manage the use of the stairs on the ground and in flight under both 
normal and emergency situations. This may require that cabin crew 
members have specific dedicated duties for the management of the stairs 
during emergency and precautionary evacuations.
    5. It should not be hazardous for crew members or passengers who 
are returning to their seats to use the stairways during moderate 
turbulence.

    Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on August 16, 2019.
Mary A. Schooley,
Acting Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation 
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-18061 Filed 8-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P