80 FR 17312 - Special Conditions: Honda Aircraft Company (Honda) Model HA-420, HondaJet; Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) System

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 62 (April 1, 2015)

These special conditions are issued for the Honda Aircraft Company HA-420 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the use of an electronic engine control system instead of a traditional mechanical control system. 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.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17312-17313]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07502]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 23

[Docket No. FAA-2015-0723; Special Conditions No. 23-264-SC]


Special Conditions: Honda Aircraft Company (Honda) Model HA-420, 
HondaJet; Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) System

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 Honda Aircraft 
Company HA-420 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual 
design feature associated with the use of an electronic engine control 
system instead of a traditional mechanical control system. 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: The effective date of these special conditions is April 1, 2015, 
and is applicable on March 25, 2015.
    We must receive your comments by May 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number [FAA-2015-0723] 
using any of the following methods:
    [squ] Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 
and follow the online instructions for sending your comments 
electronically.
    [squ] 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.
    [squ] Hand Delivery of 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.
    [squ] Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
    Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without 
change, to http://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 the 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 G. VanHoudt, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Aircraft Certification Service, Small Airplane 
Directorate, ACE-111, 901 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; 816-329-
4142, fax 816-329-4090.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has determined, in accordance with 5 
U.S. Code Sec. Sec.  553(b)(3)(B) and 553(d)(3), that notice and 
opportunity for prior public comment hereon are unnecessary because 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 therefore finds that good cause exists for making 
these special conditions effective upon issuance.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Special condition number              Company/airplane model
------------------------------------------------------------------------
23-237-SC..............................  Spectrum Aeronautical Model S-
                                          40.
23-246-SC..............................  Cirrus Design Corporation Model
                                          SF50.
23-253-SC..............................  Diamond Aircraft Industries
                                          Model DA-40NG.
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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 ask 
that you send us two copies of written comments.
    We will consider all comments we receive on or before the closing 
date for comments. We will consider comments filed late if it is 
possible to do so without incurring expense or delay. We may change 
these special conditions based on the comments we receive.

Background

    On October 11, 2006, Honda Aircraft Company applied for a type 
certificate for their new Model HA-420. On October 10, 2013, Honda 
Aircraft Company requested an extension with an effective application 
date of October 1, 2013. This extension changed the type certification 
basis to amendment 23-62.
    The HA-420 is a four to five passenger (depending on 
configuration), two crew, lightweight business jet with a 43,000-foot 
service ceiling and a maximum takeoff weight of 9963 pounds. The 
airplane is powered by two GE-Honda Aero Engines (GHAE) HF-120 turbofan 
engines.
    The HA-420 airplane will use an electronic engine control system 
(FADEC) instead of a traditional mechanical control system. Even though 
the engine control system will be

[[Page 17313]]

certificated as part of the engine, the installation of an engine with 
an electronic control system requires evaluation due to critical 
environmental effects and possible effects on or by other airplane 
systems. For example, indirect effects of lightning, radio interference 
with other airplane electronic systems, shared engine and airplane data 
and power sources.
    The regulatory requirements in 14 CFR part 23 for evaluating the 
installation of complex systems, including electronic systems and 
critical environmental effects, are contained in Sec.  23.1309. 
However, when Sec.  23.1309 was developed, the use of electronic 
control systems for engines was not envisioned. Therefore, Sec.  
23.1309 requirements were not applicable to systems certificated as 
part of the engine (reference Sec.  23.1309(f)(1)). Parts of the system 
that are not certificated with the engine could be evaluated using the 
criteria of Sec.  23.1309. However, the integral nature of these 
systems makes it unfeasible to evaluate the airplane portion of the 
system without including the engine portion of the system.
    In some cases, the airplane that the engine is used in will 
determine a higher classification than the engine controls are 
certificated for; requiring the FADEC systems be analyzed at a higher 
classification. As of November 2005, FADEC special conditions mandated 
the classification for Sec.  23.1309 analyses for loss of FADEC control 
as catastrophic for any airplane using FADEC. This is not to imply an 
engine failure is classified as catastrophic, but that the digital 
engine control must provide an equivalent reliability to mechanical 
engine controls.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Honda Aircraft Company must 
show that the HA-420 meets the applicable provisions of part 23, as 
amended by amendments 23-1 through 23-62, thereto.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 23) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for the model HA-420 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 HA-420 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. In addition, the FAA must issue a 
finding of regulatory adequacy pursuant to Sec.  611 of Public Law 92-
574, the ``Noise Control Act of 1972.''
    The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in Sec.  11.19, under 
Sec.  11.38 and they become part of the type certification basis under 
Sec.  21.17(a)(2).
    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 feature, the special conditions would also apply to the 
other model under the provisions of Sec.  21.101(a)(1).

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The HA-420 will incorporate the following novel or unusual design 
features: Electronic engine control system.

Discussion

    As defined in the summary section, this airplane makes use of an 
electronic engine control system instead of a traditional mechanical 
control system is a novel design for this type of airplane. The 
applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for this design feature. Mandating a 
structured assessment to determine potential installation issues 
mitigates the concerns that the addition of a full authority engine 
controller does not produce a failure condition not previously 
considered.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
model HA-420. Should Honda 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.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
on the model HA-420 airplanes. 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.
    The substance of these special conditions has been subjected to the 
notice and comment period in several prior instances, identified above, 
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, 
notice and opportunity for prior public comment hereon are unnecessary 
and the FAA finds good cause, in accordance with 5 U.S. Code Sec. Sec.  
553(b)(3)(B) and 553(d)(3), making these special conditions effective 
upon issuance. 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 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; and 14 CFR 11.38 and 11.19.

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 Honda Aircraft Company model HA-420 
airplanes.

1. Electronic Engine Control

    a. The installation of the electronic engine control system must 
comply with the requirements of Sec.  23.1309(a) through (d) at 
amendment 23-62. The intent of this requirement is not to reevaluate 
the inherent hardware reliability of the control itself, but rather 
determine the effects, including environmental effects addressed in 
Sec.  23.1306 and 23.1308 on the airplane systems and engine control 
system when installing the control on the airplane. When appropriate, 
engine certification data may be used when showing compliance with this 
requirement; however, the effects of the installation on this data must 
be addressed.
    b. For these evaluations, the loss of FADEC control will be 
analyzed utilizing the threat levels associated with a catastrophic 
failure.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on March 25, 2015.
Pat Mullen,
Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-07502 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P