[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13969-13971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05995]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2015-8298; Special Conditions No. 25-611-SC]


Special Conditions: JAMCO America, Inc., Boeing Model 777-300ER, 
Dynamic Test Requirements for Single-Occupant Oblique (Side-Facing) 
Seats With Inflatable Restraints

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special condition; request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 777-
300ER airplane. This airplane, as modified by JAMCO America, Inc. 
(JAMCO), will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with 
side-facing, oblique seats equipped with inflatable restraints. The 
applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for occupants of seats installed at an 
angle of greater than 18 degrees, but substantially less than 90 
degrees, to the centerline of the airplane, nor for airbag devices. 
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: This action is effective on March 16, 2016. We must receive your 
comments by May 2, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2015-8298 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to http://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 http://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal 
information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the 
docket Web site, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all 
comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the 
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), as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov/.
    Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at 
http://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: John Shelden, Airframe and Cabin 
Safety, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone 
425-227-2785; facsimile 425-227-1320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has determined that notice of, and 
opportunity for prior public comment on, these special conditions are 
impracticable because these procedures would significantly delay 
issuance of the design approval and thus delivery of the affected 
airplane.
    The FAA therefore finds that good cause exists for making these 
special conditions effective upon publication in the Federal Register.

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 April 15, 2015, through FAA project no. JAST1977-0, JAMCO 
applied for a supplemental type certificate to allow the installation 
of oblique passenger seats, installed at a 43-inch pitch and at an 
angle of 30 degrees to the vertical plane of the

[[Page 13970]]

airplane longitudinal centerline, and to include inflatable lap belts, 
in Boeing Model 777-300ER airplanes. The Boeing Model 777-300ER 
airplane is a wide-body, swept-wing, conventional-tail, twin-engine, 
turbofan-powered transport airplane, with seating capacity for 550 
passengers.
    JAMCO proposes the installation of oblique (side-facing) B/E 
Aerospace Super Diamond business-class seats. These seats will include 
airbag devices for occupant restraint and injury protection.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, JAMCO America, Inc., must 
show that the Model 777-300ER airplane, as changed, continues to meet 
the applicable provisions of the regulations incorporated by reference 
in type certificate no. T00001SE or the applicable regulations in 
effect on the date of application for the change. The regulations 
listed in the type certificate are commonly referred to as the 
``original type certification basis.'' The regulations listed in type 
certificate no. T00001SE are as follows:
    Sections 25.562 and 25.785; and special conditions no. 25-295-SC 
for single-occupant, side-facing seats.
    In addition, the certification basis includes certain special 
conditions, exemptions, or later amended sections of the applicable 
part that are not relevant to these special conditions.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for the Boeing Model 777-300ER airplane 
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 applicant apply for a supplemental type 
certificate to modify any other model included on the same type 
certificate 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, the Boeing Model 777-300ER 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.
    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

    The Boeing Model 777-300ER airplane, as modified by JAMCO will 
incorporate the following novel or unusual design features:
    Installation of B/E Aerospace Super Diamond business-class seats 
manufactured by B/E Aerospace, to be installed at an angle of 30 
degrees to the airplane centerline. These seats will include airbag 
devices for occupant restraint and injury protection. The applicable 
airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety 
standards for occupants of seats installed in the proposed 
configuration.
    The seating configuration JAMCO proposes is novel and unusual due 
to the seat installation at 30 degrees to the airplane centerline, the 
airbag-system installation, and the seat/occupant interface with the 
surrounding furniture that introduces occupant alignment and loading 
concerns.
    Ongoing research is progressing to establish acceptable occupant-
injury limits. Until those limits become available, the FAA proposes a 
set of interim limits based on the current literature available, 
current National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
regulations, and preliminary test data from the research program.
    The existing regulations do not provide adequate or appropriate 
safety standards for occupants of oblique-angled seats with airbag 
systems. To provide a level of safety that is equivalent to that 
afforded occupants of forward- and aft-facing seats, additional 
airworthiness standards, in the form of special conditions, are 
necessary. These special conditions supplement part 25 and, more 
specifically, supplement Sec. Sec.  25.562 and 25.785. The requirements 
contained in these special conditions consist of both test conditions 
and injury pass/fail criteria.

Discussion

    Amendment 25-15 to part 25, dated October 24, 1967, introduced the 
subject of side-facing seats and a requirement that each occupant in a 
side-facing seat must be protected from head injury by a safety belt 
and a cushioned rest that will support the arms, shoulders, head, and 
spine.
    Subsequently, Amendment 25-20, dated April 23, 1969, clarified the 
definition of side-facing seats to require that each occupant of a seat 
that is positioned at more than an 18-degree angle to the vertical 
plane containing the airplane centerline must be protected from head 
injury by a safety belt and an energy-absorbing rest that supports the 
arms, shoulders, head, and spine; or by a safety belt and shoulder 
harness that prevents the head from contacting injurious objects. The 
FAA concluded that a maximum 18-degree angle would provide an adequate 
level of safety based on tests that were performed at the time, and 
thus adopted that standard.
    Amendment 25-64, dated June 16, 1988, revised the emergency-landing 
conditions that must be considered in the design of the airplane. It 
revised the static-load conditions in Sec.  25.561 and added a new 
Sec.  25.562, requiring dynamic testing for all seats approved for 
occupancy during takeoff and landing. The intent was to provide an 
improved level of safety for occupants on transport-category airplanes. 
Because most seating on transport-category airplanes is forward-facing, 
the pass/fail criteria developed in Amendment 25-64 focused primarily 
on forward-facing seats. Therefore, the testing specified in the rule 
did not provide a complete measure of occupant injury in seats that are 
not forward-facing; although Sec.  25.785 does require occupants of all 
seats that are occupied during taxi, takeoff, and landing not suffer 
serious injury as a result of the inertia forces specified in 
Sec. Sec.  25.561 and 25.562.
    To address recent research findings and accommodate commercial 
demand, the FAA developed a methodology to address all fully side-
facing seats (i.e., seats oriented in the airplane with the occupant 
facing 90 degrees to the direction of airplane travel) and has 
documented those requirements in a set of proposed new special 
conditions. The FAA issued policy statement PS-ANM-25-03-R1 on November 
12, 2012, titled, ``Technical Criteria for Approving Side-Facing 
Seats,'' which conveys the injury criteria to be used in the special 
conditions. Some of those criteria are applicable to oblique seats but 
others are not because the motion of an occupant in an oblique seat is 
different from the motion of an occupant in a fully side-facing seat 
during emergency landing conditions.
    For shallower installation angles, the FAA has granted equivalent 
level of safety (ELOS) findings for oblique seat installations on the 
premise that an occupant's kinematics in an oblique seat during a 
forward impact would result in the body aligning with the impact 
direction. We predicted that the occupant response would be similar to 
an occupant of a forward-facing seat, and would produce a level of 
safety equivalent to that of a forward-facing seat. These ELOS findings 
were subject to many conditions that reflected the injury-evaluation 
criteria and mitigation strategies available at the time of

[[Page 13971]]

issuance of the ELOS. However, review of dynamic test results for many 
of these oblique seat installations raised concerns that the premise 
was not correct. Potential injury mechanisms exist that are unique to 
oblique seats and are not mitigated by the ELOS self-alignment approach 
even if the occupant appears to respond similarly to a forward-facing 
seat.
    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.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Boeing Model 777-300ER airplane. These special conditions can be 
applied to oblique seats installed at an angle greater than 18 degrees 
but less than 46 degrees to the vertical plane containing the airplane 
centerline.
    Should JAMCO apply at a later date for a supplemental type 
certificate to modify any other model included on type certificate no. 
T00001SE to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, these 
special conditions would apply to that model as well.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
on one model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general 
applicability and affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for 
approval of these features on the airplane.
    The substance of these special conditions has been subjected to the 
notice and comment period in several prior instances and has been 
derived without substantive change from those previously issued. It is 
unlikely that prior public comment would result in a significant change 
from the substance contained herein. Therefore, because a delay would 
significantly affect the certification of the airplane, which is 
imminent, the FAA has determined that prior public notice and comment 
are unnecessary and impracticable, and good cause exists for adopting 
these special conditions upon publication in the Federal Register. The 
FAA is requesting comments to allow interested persons to submit views 
that may not have been submitted in response to the prior opportunities 
for comment described above.

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 Special Conditions

    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 Boeing Model 777-300ER airplane as 
modified by JAMCO.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec.  25.562:

1. Head-Injury Criteria

    Compliance with Sec.  25.562(c)(5) is required, except that, if the 
anthropomorphic test device (ATD) has no apparent contact with the 
seat/structure but has contact with an airbag, a head-injury criterion 
(HIC) unlimited score in excess of 1000 is acceptable, provided the 
HIC15 score (calculated in accordance with 49 CFR 571.208) for that 
contact is less than 700.

2. Body-to-Wall/Furnishing Contact

    If a seat is installed aft of structure (e.g., an interior wall or 
furnishing) that does not provide a homogenous contact surface for the 
expected range of occupants and yaw angles, then additional analysis 
and/or test(s) may be required to demonstrate that the injury criteria 
are met for the area that an occupant could contact. For example, if 
different yaw angles could result in different airbag performance, then 
additional analysis or separate test(s) may be necessary to evaluate 
performance.

3. Neck Injury Criteria

    The seating system must protect the occupant from experiencing 
serious neck injury. The assessment of neck injury must be conducted 
with the airbag device activated, unless there is reason to also 
consider that the neck-injury potential would be higher for impacts 
below the airbag-device deployment threshold.
    a. The Nij (calculated in accordance with 49 CFR 
571.208) must be below 1.0, where Nij = Fz/
Fzc + My/Myc, and Nij 
critical values are:

i. Fzc = 1530 lb for tension
ii. Fzc = 1385 lb for compression
iii. Myc = 229 lb-ft in flexion
iv. Myc = 100 lb-ft in extension

    b. In addition, peak upper-neck Fz must be below 937 lb 
of tension and 899 lb of compression.
    c. Rotation of the head about its vertical axis, relative to the 
torso, is limited to 105 degrees in either direction from forward-
facing.
    d. The neck must not impact any surface that would produce 
concentrated loading on the neck.

4. Spine and Torso Injury Criteria

    a. The shoulders must remain aligned with the hips throughout the 
impact sequence, or support for the upper torso must be provided to 
prevent forward or lateral flailing beyond 45 degrees from the vertical 
during significant spinal loading. Alternatively, the lumbar spine 
tension (Fz) cannot exceed 1200 lb.
    b. Significant concentrated loading on the occupant's spine, in the 
area between the pelvis and shoulders during impact, including rebound, 
is not acceptable. During this type of contact, the interval for any 
rearward (X-direction) acceleration exceeding 20g must be less than 3 
milliseconds as measured by the thoracic instrumentation specified in 
49 CFR part 572, subpart E, filtered in accordance with SAE 
International (SAE) J211-1.
    c. Occupant must not interact with the armrest or other seat 
components in any manner significantly different than would be expected 
for a forward-facing seat installation.
    5. Longitudinal test(s), conducted to measure the injury criteria 
above, must be performed with the FAA Hybrid III ATD, as described in 
SAE 1999-01-1609. The test(s) must be conducted with an undeformed 
floor, at the most-critical yaw case(s) for injury, and with all 
lateral structural supports (armrests/walls) installed.

    Note: JAMCO must demonstrate that the installation of seats via 
plinths or pallets meets all applicable requirements. Compliance 
with the guidance contained in FAA Policy Memorandum PS-ANM-100-
2000-00123, dated February 2, 2000, titled, ``Guidance for 
Demonstrating Compliance with Seat Dynamic Testing for Plinths and 
Pallets,'' is acceptable to the FAA.

Inflatable Lap Belt Special Conditions

    If inflatable lap belts are installed on single-place side-facing 
seats, the lap belts must meet Special Conditions no. 25-187A-SC.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 10, 2016.
Michael Kaszycki,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-05995 Filed 3-15-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P