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186 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 23.2300 

(c) The airplane must provide protec-

tion for all occupants, accounting for 
likely flight, ground, and emergency 
landing conditions. 

(d) Each occupant protection system 

must perform its intended function and 
not create a hazard that could cause a 
secondary injury to an occupant. The 
occupant protection system must not 
prevent occupant egress or interfere 
with the operation of the airplane 
when not in use. 

(e) Each baggage and cargo compart-

ment must— 

(1) Be designed for its maximum 

weight of contents and for the critical 
load distributions at the maximum 
load factors corresponding to the flight 
and ground load conditions determined 
under this part; 

(2) Have a means to prevent the con-

tents of the compartment from becom-
ing a hazard by impacting occupants or 
shifting; and 

(3) Protect any controls, wiring, 

lines, equipment, or accessories whose 
damage or failure would affect safe op-
erations. 

Subpart D—Design and 

Construction 

§ 23.2300

Flight control systems. 

(a) The applicant must design air-

plane flight control systems to: 

(1) Operate easily, smoothly, and 

positively enough to allow proper per-
formance of their functions. 

(2) Protect against likely hazards. 
(b) The applicant must design trim 

systems, if installed, to: 

(1) Protect against inadvertent, in-

correct, or abrupt trim operation. 

(2) Provide a means to indicate— 
(i) The direction of trim control 

movement relative to airplane motion; 

(ii) The trim position with respect to 

the trim range; 

(iii) The neutral position for lateral 

and directional trim; and 

(iv) The range for takeoff for all ap-

plicant requested center of gravity 
ranges and configurations. 

§ 23.2305

Landing gear systems. 

(a) The landing gear must be de-

signed to— 

(1) Provide stable support and control 

to the airplane during surface oper-
ation; and 

(2) Account for likely system failures 

and likely operation environments (in-
cluding anticipated limitation 
exceedances and emergency proce-
dures). 

(b) All airplanes must have a reliable 

means of stopping the airplane with 
sufficient kinetic energy absorption to 
account for landing. Airplanes that are 
required to demonstrate aborted take-
off capability must account for this ad-
ditional kinetic energy. 

(c) For airplanes that have a system 

that actuates the landing gear, there 
is— 

(1) A positive means to keep the land-

ing gear in the landing position; and 

(2) An alternative means available to 

bring the landing gear in the landing 
position when a non-deployed system 
position would be a hazard. 

§ 23.2310

Buoyancy for seaplanes and 

amphibians. 

Airplanes intended for operations on 

water, must— 

(a) Provide buoyancy of 80 percent in 

excess of the buoyancy required to sup-
port the maximum weight of the air-
plane in fresh water; and 

(b) Have sufficient margin so the air-

plane will stay afloat at rest in calm 
water without capsizing in case of a 
likely float or hull flooding. 

O

CCUPANT

S

YSTEM

D

ESIGN

P

ROTECTION

 

§ 23.2315

Means of egress and emer-

gency exits. 

(a) With the cabin configured for 

takeoff or landing, the airplane is de-
signed to: 

(1) Facilitate rapid and safe evacu-

ation of the airplane in conditions like-
ly to occur following an emergency 
landing, excluding ditching for level 1, 
level 2, and single-engine level 3 air-
planes. 

(2) Have means of egress (openings, 

exits, or emergency exits), that can be 
readily located and opened from the in-
side and outside. The means of opening 
must be simple and obvious and 
marked inside and outside the airplane. 

(3) Have easy access to emergency 

exits when present. 

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187 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 23.2330 

(b) Airplanes approved for aerobatics 

must have a means to egress the air-
plane in flight. 

[Doc. No. FAA–2015–1621, Amdt. 23–64, 81 FR 
96689, Dec. 30, 2016, as amended by Doc. No. 
FAA–2022–1355, Amdt. 23–65, 87 FR 75710, Dec. 
9, 2022] 

§ 23.2320

Occupant physical environ-

ment. 

(a) The applicant must design the 

airplane to— 

(1) Allow clear communication be-

tween the flightcrew and passengers; 

(2) Protect the pilot and flight con-

trols from propellers; and 

(3) Protect the occupants from seri-

ous injury due to damage to wind-
shields, windows, and canopies. 

(b) For level 4 airplanes, each wind-

shield and its supporting structure di-
rectly in front of the pilot must with-
stand, without penetration, the impact 
equivalent to a two-pound bird when 
the velocity of the airplane is equal to 
the airplane’s maximum approach flap 
speed. 

(c) The airplane must provide each 

occupant with air at a breathable pres-
sure, free of hazardous concentrations 
of gases, vapors, and smoke during nor-
mal operations and likely failures. 

(d) If a pressurization system is in-

stalled in the airplane, it must be de-
signed to protect against— 

(1) Decompression to an unsafe level; 

and 

(2) Excessive differential pressure. 
(e) If an oxygen system is installed in 

the airplane, it must— 

(1) Effectively provide oxygen to each 

user to prevent the effects of hypoxia; 
and 

(2) Be free from hazards in itself, in 

its method of operation, and its effect 
upon other components. 

F

IRE AND

H

IGH

E

NERGY

P

ROTECTION

 

§ 23.2325

Fire protection. 

(a) The following materials must be 

self-extinguishing— 

(1) Insulation on electrical wire and 

electrical cable; 

(2) For levels 1, 2, and 3 airplanes, 

materials in the baggage and cargo 
compartments inaccessible in flight; 
and 

(3) For level 4 airplanes, materials in 

the cockpit, cabin, baggage, and cargo 
compartments. 

(b) The following materials must be 

flame resistant— 

(1) For levels 1, 2 and 3 airplanes, ma-

terials in each compartment accessible 
in flight; and 

(2) Any equipment associated with 

any electrical cable installation and 
that would overheat in the event of cir-
cuit overload or fault. 

(c) Thermal/acoustic materials in the 

fuselage, if installed, must not be a 
flame propagation hazard. 

(d) Sources of heat within each bag-

gage and cargo compartment that are 
capable of igniting adjacent objects 
must be shielded and insulated to pre-
vent such ignition. 

(e) For level 4 airplanes, each bag-

gage and cargo compartment must— 

(1) Be located where a fire would be 

visible to the pilots, or equipped with a 
fire detection system and warning sys-
tem; and 

(2) Be accessible for the manual ex-

tinguishing of a fire, have a built-in 
fire extinguishing system, or be con-
structed and sealed to contain any fire 
within the compartment. 

(f) There must be a means to extin-

guish any fire in the cabin such that— 

(1) The pilot, while seated, can easily 

access the fire extinguishing means; 
and 

(2) For levels 3 and 4 airplanes, pas-

sengers have a fire extinguishing 
means available within the passenger 
compartment. 

(g) Each area where flammable fluids 

or vapors might escape by leakage of a 
fluid system must— 

(1) Be defined; and 
(2) Have a means to minimize the 

probability of fluid and vapor ignition, 
and the resultant hazard, if ignition oc-
curs. 

(h) Combustion heater installations 

must be protected from uncontained 
fire. 

§ 23.2330

Fire protection in designated 

fire zones and adjacent areas. 

(a) Flight controls, engine mounts, 

and other flight structures within or 
adjacent to designated fire zones must 
be capable of withstanding the effects 
of a fire. 

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