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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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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