[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 204 (Monday, October 22, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53193-53195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22928]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2017-0240; Notice No. 25-18-04-SC]


Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation Model GVII-
G500 Airplanes; Airbag Systems on Multiple-Place and Single-Place Side-
Facing Seats

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed amended special conditions.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes amended special conditions for the 
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (Gulfstream) Model GVII-G500 airplane. 
This amendment changes an error in a reference to a special conditions 
number and adds one special condition. This airplane 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 airbag systems on multiple-place and 
single-place side-facing seats. 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: Send comments on or before November 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA-2017-0240 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 website, 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: Alan Sinclair, 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 206-231-3215.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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 proposed 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 March 29, 2012, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation applied for a 
type certificate for their new Model GVII-G500 airplane. The Model 
GVII-G500 airplane will be a twin-engine, transport-category, business 
jet capable of accommodating up to 19 passengers. The Model GVII-G500 
airplane will have a maximum takeoff weight of 76,850 lbs.
    The FAA issued ``final special conditions, request for comments'' 
for airbag systems on multiple-place and single-place side-facing seats 
installed in Gulfstream Model GVII-G500 airplanes, on June 8, 2017. The 
special conditions were published in the Federal Register on June 19, 
2017 (82 FR 27771). This notice of proposed

[[Page 53194]]

special conditions provides the public an opportunity to comment on the 
additional condition no. 14 amended into The Proposed Special 
Conditions section.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 
CFR) 21.17, Gulfstream must show that the Model GVII-G500 airplane 
meets the applicable provisions of 14 CFR part 25, as amended by 
amendments 25-1 through 25-129.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., part 25) do not contain adequate or appropriate 
safety standards for the Model GVII-G500 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 or similar 
novel or unusual design feature, the special conditions would also 
apply to the other model under Sec.  21.101.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special 
conditions, Model GVII-G500 airplanes 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.  21.17(a)(2).

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Model GVII-G500 airplane will incorporate the following novel 
or unusual design feature:
    Airbag systems on multiple-place and single-place side-facing 
seats.

Discussion

    Side facing seats are considered a novel design for transport-
category airplanes that include 14 CFR part 25, amendment 25-64, in 
their certification bases because this feature was not anticipated when 
those airworthiness standards were issued. Therefore, the existing 
regulations do not provide adequate or appropriate safety standards for 
occupants of side-facing seats. For the Model GVII-G500 airplane, FAA 
Special Conditions No. 25-618-SC, ``Technical Criteria for Approving 
Side-Facing Seats,'' provide special conditions to address the 
certification of single- and multiple-place side-facing seats. Those 
special conditions include condition 2(e), which requires the axial 
rotation of the upper leg (femur) to be limited to 35 degrees in either 
direction from the nominal seat position. To accommodate that 
requirement, Gulfstream has developed a new airbag system that will be 
installed close to the floor, and which is designed to limit the axial 
rotation of the occupant's upper legs.
    This amendment changes, in the second paragraph of the Special 
Conditions section, an erroneous reference to Special Conditions No. 
25-495-SC, which is here corrected to 25-618-SC, and adds special 
condition number 14 to the Special Conditions section. Special 
Condition 14 was unintentionally omitted from the previous issuance of 
these special conditions.
    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.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Gulfstream Model GVII-G500 airplane. Should Gulfstream 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 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 Proposed Special Conditions

    Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the 
following special conditions as part of the type certification basis 
for Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation Model GVII-G500 airplanes.
    In addition to the requirements of Sec. Sec.  25.562 and 25.785, 
and Special Conditions No. 25-618-SC, the following special conditions 
are part of the type certification basis for the Gulfstream Model GVII-
G500 airplane with leg-flail airbags installed on side-facing seats.
    1. For seats with a leg-flail airbag system, the system must deploy 
and provide protection under crash conditions where it is necessary to 
prevent serious injury. The means of protection must take into 
consideration a range of stature from a 2-year-old child to a 95th-
percentile male. At some buttock popliteal length and effective seat-
bottom depth, the lower legs will not be able to form a 90-degree angle 
relative to the upper leg; at this point, the lower leg flail would not 
occur. The leg-flail airbag system must provide a consistent approach 
to prevention of leg flail throughout that range of occupants whose 
lower legs can form a 90-degree angle relative to the upper legs when 
seated upright in the seat. Items that need to be considered include, 
but are not limited to, the range of occupants' popliteal height, the 
range of occupants' buttock popliteal length, the design of the seat 
effective height above the floor, and the effective depth of the seat-
bottom cushion.
    2. The leg-flail airbag system must provide adequate protection for 
each occupant regardless of the number of occupants of the seat 
assembly, considering that unoccupied seats may have an active leg-
flail airbag system.
    3. The leg-flail airbag system must not be susceptible to 
inadvertent deployment as a result of wear and tear, or inertial loads 
resulting from in-flight or ground maneuvers (including gusts and hard 
landings), and other operating and environmental conditions 
(vibrations, moisture, etc.) likely to occur in service.
    4. Deployment of the leg-flail airbag system must not introduce 
injury mechanisms to the seated occupant, nor result in injuries that 
could impede rapid egress.
    5. Inadvertent deployment of the leg-flail airbag system, during 
the most critical part of the flight, must either meet the requirement 
of Sec.  25.1309(b), or not cause a hazard to the airplane or its 
occupants.
    6. The leg-flail airbag system must not impede rapid egress of 
occupants from the airplane 10 seconds after airbag deployment.
    7. The leg-flail airbag system must be protected from lightning and 
high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF). The threats to the airplane 
specified in existing regulations regarding lightning (Sec.  25.1316) 
and HIRF (Sec.  25.1317) are incorporated by reference for the purpose 
of measuring lightning and HIRF protection.
    8. The leg-flail airbag system must function properly after loss of 
normal

[[Page 53195]]

airplane electrical power, and after a transverse separation of the 
fuselage at the most critical location. A separation at the location of 
the leg-flail airbag system does not have to be considered.
    9. The leg-flail airbag system must not release hazardous 
quantities of gas or particulate matter into the cabin.
    10. The leg-flail airbag system installation must be protected from 
the effects of fire such that no hazard to occupants will result.
    11. A means must be available to verify the integrity of the leg-
flail airbag system's activation system prior to each flight, or the 
leg-flail airbag system's activation system must reliably operate 
between inspection intervals. The FAA considers that the loss of the 
leg-flail airbag system's deployment function alone (i.e., independent 
of the conditional event that requires the leg-flail airbag system's 
deployment) is a major-failure condition.
    12. The airbag inflatable material may not have an average burn 
rate of greater than 2.5 inches per minute when tested using the 
horizontal flammability test defined in part 25, appendix F, part I, 
paragraph (b)(5).
    13. The leg-flail airbag system, once deployed, must not adversely 
affect the emergency-lighting system (i.e., must not block floor-
proximity lights to the extent that the lights no longer meet their 
intended function).
    14. The leg flail system(s) must perform its intended function 
after impact from any other proximate assemblies (e.g., life raft) that 
may become detached under the loads specified in Sec. Sec.  25.561 and 
25.562.

    Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on October 15, 2018.
Victor Wicklund,
Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation Division, 
Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-22928 Filed 10-19-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P