82 FR 17101 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A. Model ERJ 190-300 Airplane; Flight Envelope Protection, General Limiting Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 67 (April 10, 2017)

These special conditions are issued for the Embraer S.A. (Embraer) Model ERJ 190-300 airplane. 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 a new control architecture and a full digital flight-control system, both of which provide flight-envelope protections. 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 82, Number 67 (Monday, April 10, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17101-17103]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07060]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. FAA-2016-9402; Special Conditions No. 25-655-SC]


Special Conditions: Embraer S.A. Model ERJ 190-300 Airplane; 
Flight Envelope Protection, General Limiting Requirements

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 airplane. 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 a new control architecture and a full 
digital flight-control system, both of which provide flight-envelope 
protections. 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 April 10, 2017. We must 
receive your comments by May 25, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2016-9402 
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

[[Page 17102]]

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: Joe Jacobsen, FAA, Airplane and 
Flightcrew Interface, ANM-111, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 
Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, Washington 98057-
3356; telephone (425) 227-2011; facsimile (425) 227-1320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The substance of these special conditions 
has been subject 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, 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.

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 September 13, 2013, Embraer applied for an amendment to Type 
Certificate No. A57NM to include the new Model ERJ 190-300 airplane. 
The Model ERJ 190-300 airplane, which is a derivative of the Embraer 
Model ERJ 190-100 STD airplane currently approved under Type 
Certificate No. A57NM, is a 97- to 114-passenger transport-category 
airplane, designed with a new wing with a high aspect ratio and raked 
wingtip, and a new electrical-distribution system. The maximum take-off 
weight is 124,340 lbs (56,400 kg).

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (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 feature, 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 Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 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 Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 airplane will incorporate the 
following novel or unusual design feature: A new control architecture 
and a full digital flight-control system, both of which provide flight-
envelope protections.

Discussion

    The applicable airworthiness regulation that applies to these 
special conditions is 14 CFR 25.143. The purpose of Sec.  25.143 is to 
verify that any airplane operational maneuvers conducted within the 
airplane operational envelope can be accomplished smoothly with average 
piloting skill, and without exceeding any structural limits. The pilot 
should be able to predict the airplane response to any control input. 
During the course of the flight-test program, the pilot determines 
compliance with Sec.  25.143 primarily through qualitative methods. 
During flight test, the pilot evaluates all of the following:
     The interface between each protection function,
     Transitions from one mode to another,
     The aircraft response to intentional dynamic maneuvering, 
whenever applicable, through dedicated maneuvers,
     General controllability,
     High speed characteristics, and
     High angle-of-attack.
    However, Sec.  25.143 does not adequately ensure that the novel or 
unusual feature of the Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 airplane will have a 
level of safety equivalent to that of existing standards. These special 
conditions are required to accommodate the flight-envelope-limiting 
systems in the Model ERJ 190-300 airplane.
    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 
Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 airplane. 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.
    This action affects only a certain novel or unusual design feature 
on one model of airplane. It is not a rule of general applicability.
    The substance of these special conditions has been subject 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, 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

[[Page 17103]]

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 Embraer Model ERJ 190-300 airplanes.

1. General Limiting Requirements

    a. Onset characteristics of each envelope protection feature must 
be smooth, appropriate to the phase of flight and type of maneuver, and 
not in conflict with the ability of the pilot to satisfactorily change 
airplane flight path, speed, or attitude as needed.
    b. Limit values of protected flight parameters (and if applicable, 
associated warning thresholds) must be compatible with the following:
    i. Airplane structural limits,
    ii. Required safe and controllable maneuvering of the airplane, and
    iii. Margins to critical conditions. Unsafe flight characteristics/
conditions must not result if dynamic maneuvering, airframe and system 
tolerances (both manufacturing and in-service), and non-steady 
atmospheric conditions, in any appropriate combination and phase of 
flight, can produce a limited flight parameter beyond the nominal 
design-limit value.
    c. The airplane must be responsive to intentional dynamic 
maneuvering to within a suitable range of the parameter limit. Dynamic 
characteristics such as damping and overshoot must also be appropriate 
for the flight maneuver and limit parameter in question.
    d. When simultaneous envelope limiting is engaged, adverse coupling 
or adverse priority must not result.

2. Failure States

    a. Electronic flight-control-system failures (including sensors) 
must not result in a condition where a parameter is limited to such a 
reduced value that safe and controllable maneuvering is no longer 
available.
    b. The crew must be alerted by suitable means if any change in 
envelope limiting or maneuverability is produced by single or multiple 
failures of the electronic flight-control system not shown to be 
extremely improbable.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 15, 2017.
Dionne Palermo,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-07060 Filed 4-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P