[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13503-13504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5872]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Airbus Industrie Proposal To Establish a Maximum Passenger 
Capacity for the Model A321 Airplane Without Conduct of a Full-Scale 
Evacuation Demonstration; Public Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a public meeting which is being held by 
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the purpose of soliciting 
and reviewing information from the public on a proposal by Airbus 
Industrie to establish a maximum passenger capacity for the model A321 
airplane without conduct of a full-scale evacuation demonstration. 
Interested parties are invited to make presentations or submit material 
for the record.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 14, 1995. On-
site registration will begin at 7:30 a.m., and the public meeting will 
begin at 8:30 a.m.

REGISTRATION: Persons planning to attend the public meeting should 
preregister by contacting the person identified later in this notice as 
the contact for further information. Arrangements for oral 
presentations must be made by March 25, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, SeaTac 
International Airport, 17338 International Blvd., Seattle, Washington 
98188.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeff Gardlin, FAA, Transport Standards Staff, Transport Airplane 
Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98055-4056; telephone 
(206) 227-2136.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463; 5 U.S.C. App. II), notice is 
given of a public meeting to be held on April 14, 1995 at the Holiday 
Inn, SeaTac International Airport in Seattle, Washington. The purpose 
of this meeting is to hear comments from the general public regarding a 
proposal by Airbus Industrie to establish the maximum passenger 
capacity for the A321 airplane, without conduct of a full-scale 
evacuation demonstration. This proposal includes utilization of 
previous full-scale evacuation data from a similar airplane model, in 
combination with partial evacuation testing and analysis. This approach 
would represent a departure from previous FAA-approval methods for new 
airplane models, although the European Joint Aviation Authorities have 
already approved the airplane using this method. The A321 is a 
derivative of the A320 airplane, and includes replacement of the two 
Type III overwing exits with two pairs of improved Type I exits. While 
this subject is being addressed by the Emergency Evacuation Issues 
Group of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC), that group 
has not yet reached a consensus on the procedures to follow in such a 
case. In the absence of a formal recommendation from ARAC, the FAA is 
inviting the interested public to comment on the Airbus proposal. The 
FAA will consider information presented at the public meeting in the 
course of making its decision on the acceptability of the Airbus 
proposal.
    The agenda for the meeting will include:

Regulatory Background
Certification Test Procedures
Airbus Presentation of Proposed Compliance Method
Presentations from the Public

    Attendance is open to the interested public, but will be limited to 
the space available.

Requests To Be Heard

    Persons planning to present data or comments at the public meeting 
are requested to provide the FAA an abstract of their presentation by 
March 25, 1995. The abstract should include an estimate of the time 
needed to make the presentation, and should be mailed to the person 
identified earlier in this notice as the contact for further 
information. Following each presentation, a discussion period will be 
allowed and all persons will be given the opportunity to open 
discussions on the presentation. [[Page 13504]] 

Public Meeting Procedures

    Hotel room reservations should be made in advance. A block of rooms 
has been reserved at the Holiday Inn, SeaTac at a single room rate of 
$74.00 plus tax. Persons wishing to attend the public meeting are 
encouraged to make reservations by March 23, 1995, by contacting the 
Hotel direct at 206-248-1000. Be sure to identify yourself as an FAA 
public meeting attendee to receive this special rate.
    Persons who plan to attend the public meeting should be aware of 
the following procedures which are established to facilitate the 
workings of the meeting.
    1. The meeting will be open on a space available basis to all 
persons registered. If practicable, the meeting will be accelerated to 
enable adjournment in less than the time scheduled.
    2. The meeting will be recorded by a court reporter. Anyone 
interested in purchasing the transcript should contact the court 
reporter directly. A copy of the court reporter's transcribe will be 
docketed.
    3. The FAA will consider all materials presented at the meeting by 
participants. Position papers and other handout material may be 
accepted at the discretion of the chairperson. Enough copies should be 
provided for distribution to all conference participants.
    4. Statements made by FAA participants at the meeting will not be 
taken as expressing final FAA positions.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 3, 1995.
Darrell M. Pederson,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service, ANM-100.
[FR Doc. 95-5872 Filed 3-10-95; 8:45 am]
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