[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 149 (Friday, August 4, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36326-36328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16417]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2017-0732; Special Conditions No. 25-697-SC]


Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model ERJ 190-300 Series 
Airplanes; Design Roll Maneuver for Electronic Flight Controls

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special conditions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Embraer S.A. 
(Embraer) Model ERJ 190-300 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 electronic flight control 
system (EFCS) that provides control of the airplane through pilot 
inputs to the flight computer. 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: This action is effective on Embraer on August 4, 2017. We must 
receive your comments by September 18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2017-0732 
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).
    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: Greg Schneider, FAA, Airframe and 
Cabin Safety Branch, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 
Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington, 98057-
3356; telephone 425-227-2116; facsimile 425-227-1320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has determined that notice of, and 
opportunity for prior public comment on, these special conditions is 
impracticable because these procedures would delay issuance of the 
design approval and thus delivery of the affected airplane.
    In addition, the substance of these special conditions has been 
subject to the public comment process in several prior instances with 
no substantive comments received. The FAA finds it is unnecessary to 
delay the effective date and finds that good cause exists for adopting 
these special conditions upon publication in the Federal Register.

Comments Invited

    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. 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 September 13, 2013, Embraer applied for an amendment to Type

[[Page 36327]]

Certificate (TC) no. A57NM to include the new Model ERJ 190-300 
airplanes. The Model ERJ 190-300 airplane, which is a derivative of the 
Model ERJ 190-100 STD airplane currently approved under TC no. A57NM, 
is a 97-114 passenger transport-category airplane with two Pratt & 
Whitney Model PW1900G engines, a new wing design with a high aspect 
ratio and raked wingtip, and a digital fly-by-wire electronic flight-
control system.
    The flight-control system for the Model ERJ 190-300 airplane does 
not have a direct mechanical link nor a linear gain between the 
airplane flight-control surface and the pilot's flight-deck control 
device, which is not accounted for in title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations (14 CFR) 25.349(a). Instead, a flight-control computer 
commands the airplane flight-control surfaces, based on input received 
from the flight-deck control device. The flight-control computer 
modifies pilot input before the command is given to the flight-control 
surface.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, Embraer must show that the 
Model ERJ 190-300 airplane meets the applicable provisions of the 
regulations listed in Type Certificate No. A57NM 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 the Model ERJ 190-300 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 type certificate for that model be amended 
later to include any other model that incorporates the same novel or 
unusual design features, 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, the ERJ 190-300 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 ERJ 190-300 will incorporate the following novel or unusual 
design features: An electronic flight control system that provides 
control of the airplane through pilot inputs to the flight computer. 
Current part 25 airworthiness regulations account for control laws 
where aileron deflection is proportional to control stick deflection. 
They do not address any nonlinearities, i.e., situations where output 
does not change in the same proportion as input, or other effects on 
aileron actuation that may be caused by electronic flight controls.

Discussion

    These special conditions differ from current regulatory 
requirements in that they require that the roll maneuver result from 
defined movements of the cockpit roll control as opposed to defined 
aileron deflections. Also, these special conditions require an 
additional load condition at design maneuvering speed (VA), 
in which the cockpit roll control is returned to neutral following the 
initial roll input.
    These special conditions differ from similar special conditions 
previously issued on this topic. These special conditions are limited 
to the roll axis only, whereas other special conditions also included 
pitch and yaw axes. Special conditions are no longer needed for the yaw 
axis because 14 CFR 25.351 was revised at Amendment 25-91 to take into 
account effects of an electronic flight control system. No special 
conditions are needed for the pitch axis because the method that 
Embraer proposed for the pitch maneuver takes into account effects of 
an electronic flight control system.
    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 
Model ERJ 190-300 airplanes. Should Embraer 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 certain novel or unusual design features 
on one model 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.

    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 Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 series 
airplanes.
    In lieu of compliance to 14 CFR 25.349(a), the Embraer Model ERJ 
190-300 airplane must comply with the following:
    The following conditions, speeds, and cockpit roll control motions 
(except as the motions may be limited by pilot effort) must be 
considered in combination with an airplane load factor of zero and of 
two-thirds of the positive maneuvering factor used in design. In 
determining the resulting control surface deflections, the torsional 
flexibility of the wing must be considered in accordance with 14 CFR 
25.301(b).
    (a) Conditions corresponding to steady rolling velocities must be 
investigated. In addition, conditions corresponding to maximum angular 
acceleration must be investigated for airplanes with engines or other 
weight concentrations outboard of the fuselage. For the angular 
acceleration conditions, zero rolling velocity may be assumed in the 
absence of a rational time history investigation of the maneuver.
    (b) At VA, sudden movement of the cockpit roll control 
up to the limit is assumed. The position of the cockpit roll control 
must be maintained until a steady roll rate is achieved and then must 
be returned suddenly to the neutral position.
    (c) At VC, the cockpit roll control must be moved 
suddenly and maintained so as to achieve a roll rate not less than that 
obtained in paragraph (b).
    (d) At VD, the cockpit roll control must be moved 
suddenly and maintained so as to achieve a roll rate not less than one 
third of that obtained in paragraph (b).


[[Page 36328]]


    Issued in Renton, Washington.
Victor Wicklund,
Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-16417 Filed 8-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P