[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 4, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6028-6029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01515]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2019-0632; Special Conditions No. 25-762-SC]


Special Conditions: The Boeing Company Model 747-8 Series 
Airplane; Certification of Cooktops

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special conditions.

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SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for The Boeing Company 
(Boeing) Model 747-8 series airplane. This airplane, as modified by 
Boeing, 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 associated with 
the installation of advanced technology induction coil cooktops in the 
main deck galleys on a Boeing Model 747-8 series airplane. 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: Effective March 5, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Sinclair, FAA, Airframe/Cabin 
Safety Branch, 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; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On July 2, 2018, Boeing applied for a supplemental type certificate 
for the modification of the Boeing Model 747-8 series airplane. The 
Boeing Model 747-8 currently approved under Type Certificate No. A20WE, 
is an extended range passenger version of the Boeing Model 747-400 
series airplane with four General Electric engines having changes to 
increase its strength and fuel capacity.
    The modification incorporates the installation of an electrically 
heated surface, called a cooktop. Cooktops introduce high heat, smoke, 
and the possibility of fire into the passenger cabin environment. These 
potential hazards to the airplane and its occupants must be 
satisfactorily addressed. Since existing airworthiness regulations do 
not contain safety standards addressing cooktops, special conditions 
are needed.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 
CFR) 21.101, Boeing must show that the Model 747-8 series airplane, as 
changed, continues to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations 
listed in Type Certificate No. A20WE 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 (e.g., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for the Boeing Model 747-8 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 747-8 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 modification of the Boeing Model 747-8 series airplane will 
incorporate a novel or unusual design feature, which is the 
installation of cooktops in the passenger cabin. Cooktops introduce 
high heat, smoke, and the possibility of fire into the passenger cabin 
environment. The current airworthiness standards of part 25 do not 
contain adequate or appropriate safety standards to protect the 
airplane and its occupants from these potential hazards.

Discussion

    Currently, ovens are the prevailing means of heating food on 
airplanes. Ovens are characterized by an enclosure that contains both 
the heat source and the food being heated. The hazards represented by 
ovens are thus inherently limited, and are well understood through 
years of service experience. Cooktops, on the other hand, are 
characterized by exposed heat sources and the presence of relatively 
unrestrained hot cookware and heated food, which may represent 
unprecedented hazards to both occupants and the airplane. Cooktops 
could have serious passenger and airplane safety implications if 
appropriate requirements are not established for their installation and 
use. These special conditions apply to cooktops with electrically 
powered burners. The use of an open flame cooktop (for example, natural 
gas) is beyond the scope of these special conditions and would require 
separate rulemaking action. The requirements identified in these 
special conditions are in addition to those considerations identified 
in Advisory Circular (AC) 20-168, Certification Guidance for 
Installation of Non-Essential, Non-Required Aircraft Cabin Systems & 
Equipment (CS&E), dated July 22, 2010, and those in AC 25-17A, 
Transport Airplane Cabin Interiors Crashworthiness Handbook, Change 1, 
dated May 24, 2016. The intent of these special conditions is to 
provide a level of safety that is consistent with that on similar 
airplanes without cooktops.
    The 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.

[[Page 6029]]

Discussion of Comments

    The FAA issued Notice of Proposed Special Conditions No. 25-19-08-
SC for the Boeing Model 747-8 series airplane, which was published in 
the Federal Register on August 20, 2019 (84 FR 43037). The FAA received 
responses from one commenter.
    Boeing requested a revision of the text included in the Summary 
section of the preamble. The language the FAA used in the preamble of 
the notice special conditions referred only to the replacement of an 
existing cooktop only. Boeing stated their proposed modification 
installs a complete system including cooktops, smoke detection, 
ventilation, and warnings. We concur with the request to revise the 
language and have done so in the preamble of these final special 
conditions.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Boeing 747-8 series airplane as modified by Boeing. Should Boeing apply 
at a later date for a supplemental type certificate to modify any other 
model included on Type Certificate No. A20WE to incorporate the same 
novel or unusual design feature, these special conditions would apply 
to that model as well.

Conclusion

    This action affects only a certain novel or unusual design feature 
on the Boeing Model 747-8 series airplane. 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.

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 Special Conditions

0
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 747-8 series 
airplane, as modified by The Boeing Company:

Cooktop Installations With Electrically-Powered Burner

    1. Means, such as conspicuous burner-on indicators, physical 
barriers, or handholds, must be installed to minimize the potential for 
inadvertent personnel contact with hot surfaces of both the cooktop and 
cookware. Conditions of turbulence must be considered.
    2. Sufficient design means must be included to restrain cookware 
while in place on the cooktop, as well as representative contents, 
e.g., soup, sauces, etc., from the effects of flight loads and 
turbulence. Restraints must be provided to preclude hazardous movement 
of cookware and contents. These restraints must accommodate any 
cookware that is identified for use with the cooktop. Restraints must 
be designed to be easily utilized and effective in service. The 
cookware restraint system should also be designed so that it will not 
be easily disabled, thus rendering it unusable. Placarding must be 
installed which prohibits the use of cookware that can not be 
accommodated by the restraint system.
    3. Placarding must be installed which prohibits the use of cooktops 
(i.e., power on any burner) during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
    4. One of the following options must be provided to address the 
possibility of a fire occurring on or in the immediate vicinity of the 
cooktop:
    a. Placarding must be installed that prohibits any burner from 
being powered when the cooktop is unattended (Note: That this would 
prohibit a single person from cooking on the cooktop and intermittently 
serving food to passengers while any burner is powered). A fire 
detector must be installed in the vicinity of the cooktop, which 
provides an audible warning in the passenger cabin, and a fire 
extinguisher of appropriate size and extinguishing agent must be 
installed in the immediate vicinity of the cooktop. Access to the 
extinguisher must not be blocked by a fire on or around the cooktop.
    b. An automatic, thermally activated fire suppression system must 
be installed to extinguish a fire at the cooktop and immediately 
adjacent surfaces. The agent used in the system must be an approved 
total flooding agent suitable for use in an occupied area. The fire 
suppression system must have a manual override. The automatic 
activation of the fire suppression system must also automatically shut 
off power to the cooktop.
    5. The surfaces of the galley surrounding the cooktop, which could 
be exposed to a fire on the cooktop surface or in cookware on the 
cooktop must be constructed of materials that comply with the 
flammability requirements of Part III of Appendix F of part 25. This 
requirement is in addition to the flammability requirements typically 
required of the materials in these galley surfaces. During the 
selection of these materials, consideration must also be given to 
ensure that the flammability characteristics of the materials will not 
be adversely affected by the use of cleaning agents and utensils used 
to remove cooking stains.
    6. The cooktop must be ventilated with a system independent of the 
airplane cabin and cargo ventilation system. Procedures and time 
intervals must be established to inspect and clean or replace the 
ventilation system to prevent a fire hazard from the accumulation of 
flammable oils and be included in the instructions for continued 
airworthiness. [Note: The applicant may find additional useful 
information in Society of Automotive Engineers, Aerospace Recommended 
Practice 85, Rev. E, entitled ``Air Conditioning Systems for Subsonic 
Airplanes,'' dated August 1, 1991.]
    7. Means must be provided to contain spilled foods or fluids in a 
manner that will prevent the creation of a slipping hazard to occupants 
and will not lead to the loss of structural strength due to corrosion.
    8. Cooktop installations must provide adequate space for the user 
to immediately escape a hazardous cooktop condition.
    9. A means to shut off power to the cooktop must be provided at the 
galley containing the cooktop and in the cockpit. If additional 
switches are introduced in the cockpit, revisions to smoke or fire 
emergency procedures of the AFM will be required.
    10. If the cooktop is required to have a lid to enclose the 
cooktop, there must be a means to automatically shut off power to the 
cooktop when the lid is enclosed.

    Issued in Des Moines, Washington, on January 23, 2020.
James E. Wilborn,
Acting Manager, Transport Standards Branch, Policy and Innovation 
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-01515 Filed 2-3-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P