[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 20, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56809-56811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23811]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 23

[Docket No. CE163; Notice No. 23-00-04-SC]


Special Conditions: Sino Swearingen, Model SJ30-2; Side-Facing 
Seat

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes special conditions for the Sino 
Swearingen, Model SJ30-2 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or 
unusual design feature(s) associated with side-facing 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: Comments must be received on or before October 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposal may be mailed in duplicate to: 
Federal Aviation Administration, Regional Counsel, ACE-7, Attention: 
Rules Docket, Docket No. CE163, 901 Locust, Room 506, Kansas City, 
Missouri 64106, or delivered in duplicate to the Regional Counsel at 
the above address. Comments must be marked: CE163. Comments may be 
inspected in the Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays, 
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Les Taylor, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Aircraft Certification Service, Small Airplane 
Directorate, ACE-111, 901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City, Missouri, 816-
329-4134, fax 816-329-4090.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  

Comments Invited

    Interested persons are invited to participate in the making of 
these proposed special conditions by submitting such written data, 
views, or arguments as they may desire. Communications should identify 
the regulatory docket or notice number and be submitted in duplicate to 
the address specified above. The Administrator will consider all 
communications received on or before the closing date for comments. The 
proposals described in this action may be changed in light of the 
comments received. All comments received will be available in the Rules 
Docket for examination by interested persons, both before and after the 
closing date for comments. A report summarizing each substantive public 
contact with FAA personnel concerning this rulemaking will be filed in 
the docket. Persons wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their 
comments submitted in response to this action must include with those 
comments a self-addressed, stamped postcard on which the following 
statement is made: ``Comments to CE163.'' The postcard will be date 
stamped and returned to the commenter.

Background

    On October 9, 1995, Sino Swearingen Aircraft Company, 1770 Sky 
Place Boulevard, San Antonio, Texas 78216, applied for normal category 
type certificate for their new Model SJ30-2. The Model SJ30-2 airplane 
is a six-to-eight place, all metal, low-wing, T-tail, twin turbofan 
engine powered airplane with fully enclosed retractable landing gear. 
The SJ30-2 will have a VMO/MMO of 320 knots/M=.83, and will have 
engines mounted aft on the fuselage.
    The Model SJ30-2 airplane will contain one side-facing seat. Side 
facing seats are considered a novel design and were not considered when 
those airworthiness standards were promulgated. The FAA has determined 
that the existing regulations do not provide adequate or appropriate 
safety standards for occupants of side-facing single occupant seats. In 
order to provide a level of safety that is equivalent to that afforded 
to occupants of forward and aft facing seats, additional airworthiness 
standards, in the form of additional special conditions, are necessary.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Sino Swearingen Aircraft 
Company must show that the Model SJ30-2 meets the applicable provisions 
of 14 CFR part 23 as amended by Amendments 23-1 through 23-53, and 
selected portions of 14 CFR part 25 as provided for by 14 CFR part 21, 
Secs. 21.16 and 21.17(a)(2); exemptions, if any; equivalent level of 
safety findings, if any; and the special conditions adopted by this 
rulemaking action.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., part 23) do not contain adequate or appropriate 
safety standards for the Sino Swearingen Model SJ30-2 because of a 
novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed 
under the provisions of Sec. 21.16.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special 
conditions, the Model SJ30-2 must comply with the part 23 fuel vent and 
exhaust emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the noise 
certification requirements of 14 CFR part 36, and the FAA must issue a 
finding of regulatory adequacy pursuant to section 611 of Public Law 
92-574, the ``Noise Control Act of 1972.''
    Special conditions, as appropriate, are issued in accordance with 
Sec. 11.49 after public notice, as required by Secs. 11.28 and 
11.29(b), and become part of the type certification basis in accordance 
with Sec. 21.17(a)(2).

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Model SJ30-2 will incorporate the following novel or unusual 
design features: A side-facing seat occupiable for taxi, takeoff and 
landing.

FAA Position

    The intent of these special conditions is to establish a level of 
safety for the occupant of the side facing seat consistent with the 
level afforded occupants of the forward and aft facing seats. The 
primary objective is that all occupants should have protection from 
serious injuries, regardless of the orientation of the seat system. 
Occupants of side facing seats are exposed to different physical loads 
than forward facing occupants, such as lateral body contact with 
armrests and walls. Thus, a means to assess the potential for injuries 
due to occupant loads imparted by lateral impacts must be imposed.
    Therefore, the following special conditions are considered to be 
applicable to the side facing seat on the SJ30-2.
    In addition to the airworthiness standards in Secs. 23.562 and 
23.785, the following special conditions provide the additional injury 
criteria and installation/testing guidelines that represent the minimum 
acceptable

[[Page 56810]]

airworthiness standards for side facing seats:

1. Injury Criteria

    (a) Existing Criteria: All injury protection criteria of 
Sec. 23.562(c)(1) through (c)(7) and Sec. 23.785 apply to the occupant 
of a side facing seat. Head Injury Criteria (HIC) assessments are only 
required for head contact with either the seat or adjacent structures 
or both.
    (b) Body-to-wall/furnishing contact: The seat must be installed aft 
of a structure such as an interior wall or furnishing that will support 
the pelvis, upper arm, chest, and head of an occupant seated next to 
the structure. Horizontal tests of the seat must include representative 
structures for the forward wall. The wall must include attachments that 
represent the geometry, strength, and stiffness of the airplane 
installation. If there are structures forward of the wall that will 
affect the deformation of the wall, these structures must be addressed 
in the test procedure. The contact surface of this structure must be 
covered with at least two inches of energy absorbing protective foam, 
such as ensolite.
    (c) Thoracic Trauma: Testing with a Side Impact Dummy (SID), as 
defined by 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F, or its equivalent, must be 
conducted and Thoracic Trauma Index (TTI) injury criteria acquired with 
the SID must be less than 85, as defined in 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F. 
SID TTI data must be processed as defined in Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard (FMVSS) Sec. 571.214, S 6.13.5. Rational analysis, 
comparing an installation with another installation where TTI data were 
acquired and found acceptable, may also be viable.
    (d) Pelvis: Pelvic lateral acceleration must not exceed 130g. 
Pelvic acceleration data must be processed as defined in FMVSS 
Sec. 571.214, S 6.13.5.

2. General Test Guidelines

    (a) One test with the SID Anthropomorphic Test Dummy (ATD), 
undeformed floor, no yaw, and with all lateral structural supports 
(armrests/walls).
    Pass/fail injury assessments: TTI; and pelvic acceleration.
    (b) One test with the Hybrid II ATD, or equivalent, deformed floor, 
with 10 degrees yaw, and with all lateral structural supports 
(armrests/walls). Pass/fail injury assessments: HIC; and upper torso 
restraint system retention and pelvic acceleration.
    (c) Vertical test to be conducted with modified Hybrid II ATD's 
with existing pass/fail criteria.

Applicant's Position

    The intent of the criteria established is to provide an equivalent 
level of safety to that afforded to forward and aft facing seats. The 
applicant concurs that the test guidelines and injury criteria defined 
achieve that goal with the following exceptions and clarifications.
    1. In the assessment of the TTI and pelvic lateral accelerations 
for the test condition defined in Item 2(a), the applicant proposes to 
retain the option of using either the SID ATD as defined or, 
alternately, the EuroSID ATD as defined by the Official Journal of 
European Communities, L169 Volume 39, dated July 8, 1996, Directive 96/
27/EC and amending Directive 70/156/EEC. The applicant considers both 
the SID and the EuroSID to be acceptable ATD's for the showing of 
compliance with the requirements of Item 2(a).
    2. The designation of ``seat/restraint systems * * * installed in 
the first row'' given in Sec. 23.562 is applied to the crew seats 
located on the flight deck. The designation of ``all other seat/
restraint systems'' given in Sec. 23.562 is applicable to all SJ30-2 
seats other than those located on the flight deck. Therefore, the test 
conditions of Items 2(a) and 2(b) shall be in accordance with the 21G 
pulse defined in Sec. 23.562(b)(2) with the exceptions noted, and the 
test conditions of Item 2(c) shall be in accordance with the 15G pulse 
defined in Sec. 23.562(b)(1) with the exceptions noted.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Model SJ30-2. Should Sino Swearingen Aircraft Company apply at a later 
date for a change to the type certificate to include another model 
incorporating the same novel or unusual design feature, the special 
conditions would apply to that model as well under the provisions of 
Sec. 21.101(a)(1).

Conclusion

    The special conditions proposed in the FAA position are acceptable. 
The conditions requested by the applicant are as follows:
    1. The EuroSID-1 ATD as defined in the Applicant's Position is 
considered an acceptable equivalent for the purposes of the tests 
defined in these special conditions.
    2. The applicants position which is consistent with Advisory 
Circular 23.562-1, page 4, shows a table in which ``crew'' seats are 
shown to meet the 19/26G pulses and passenger seats are shown to meet 
the 15/21 G pulses.
    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
on one model of airplane. It is not a rule of general applicability, 
and it affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for approval 
of these features on the airplane.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 23

    Aircraft, Aviation safety, Signs and symbols.

Citation

    The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113 and 44701; 14 CFR 21.16 and 
21.17 for TC; and 14 CFR 11.28 and 11.29(b).

The Proposed Special Conditions

    Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the 
following special conditions as part of the type certification basis 
for the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Company Model SJ30-2 airplane 
applicable to side-facing seats occupiable during taxi, takeoff, and 
landing.

1. Injury Criteria

    (a) Existing Criteria: All injury protection criteria of 
Sec. 23.562(c)(1) through (c)(7) and Sec. 23.785 apply to the occupant 
of a side facing seat. Head Injury Criteria (HIC) assessments are only 
required for head contact with either the seat or adjacent structures 
or both.
    (b) Body-to-wall/furnishing contact: The seat must be installed aft 
of a structure such as an interior wall or furnishing that will support 
the pelvis, upper arm, chest, and head of an occupant seated next to 
the structure. Horizontal tests of the seat must include representative 
structures for the forward wall. The wall must include attachments that 
represent the geometry, strength, and stiffness of the airplane 
installation. If there are structures forward of the wall that will 
affect the deformation of the wall, these structures must be addressed 
in the test procedure. The contact surface of this structure must be 
covered with at least two inches of energy absorbing protective foam, 
such as ensolite.
    (c) Thoracic Trauma: Testing with a Side Impact Dummy (SID), as 
defined by 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F, or its equivalent, must be 
conducted and Thoracic Trauma Index (TTI) injury criteria acquired with 
the SID must be less than 85, as defined in 49 CFR part 572, Subpart F. 
SID TTI data must be processed as defined in Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard (FMVSS) Sec. 571.214, S 6.13.5. Rational analysis, 
comparing an installation with another installation where TTI data were 
acquired and found acceptable, may

[[Page 56811]]

also be viable. The use of the EuroSID-1 as defined by the Official 
Journal of European Communities, L169 Volume 39, dated July 8, 1996, 
Directive 96/27/EC and amending Directive 70/156/EEC is considered 
acceptable for the collection of this data.
    (d) Pelvis: Pelvic lateral acceleration must not exceed 130g. 
Pelvic acceleration data must be processed as defined in FMVSS 
Sec. 571.214, S 6.13.5.

2. General Test Guidelines

    (a) One test with the SID Anthropomorphic Test Dummy (ATD) or the 
EuroSID-1, as defined above, undeformed floor, no yaw, and with all 
lateral structural supports (armrests/walls).
    Pass/fail injury assessments: TTI; and pelvic acceleration.
    (b) One test with the Hybrid II ATD, or equivalent, deformed floor, 
with 10 degrees yaw, and with all lateral structural supports 
(armrests/walls).
    Pass/fail injury assessments: HIC; and upper torso restraint system 
retention and pelvic acceleration.
    (c) Vertical test to be conducted with modified Hybrid II ATD's 
with existing pass/fail criteria.
    (d) G-loads used in 2(a), 2(b) and 2(c) are those defined in 14 CFR 
part 23, Sec. 23.562(b), for first row (crew) and other rows 
(passenger) seats.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on September 6, 2000.
Michael Gallagher,
Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 00-23811 Filed 9-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P