521 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 27.785 

the cockpit structure or the pilot’s 
clothing when pilots from 5

′

2

″ 

to 6

′

0

″ 

in 

height are seated. 

§ 27.779

Motion and effect of cockpit 

controls. 

Cockpit controls must be designed so 

that they operate in accordance with 
the following movements and actu-
ation: 

(a) Flight controls, including the col-

lective pitch control, must operate 
with a sense of motion which cor-
responds to the effect on the rotor-
craft. 

(b) Twist-grip engine power controls 

must be designed so that, for lefthand 
operation, the motion of the pilot’s 
hand is clockwise to increase power 
when the hand is viewed from the edge 
containing the index finger. Other en-
gine power controls, excluding the col-
lective control, must operate with a 
forward motion to increase power. 

(c) Normal landing gear controls 

must operate downward to extend the 
landing gear. 

[Amdt. 27–21, 49 FR 44434, Nov. 6, 1984] 

§ 27.783

Doors. 

(a) Each closed cabin must have at 

least one adequate and easily acces-
sible external door. 

(b) Each external door must be lo-

cated where persons using it will not be 
endangered by the rotors, propellers, 
engine intakes, and exhausts when ap-
propriate operating procedures are 
used. If opening procedures are re-
quired, they must be marked inside, on 
or adjacent to the door opening device. 

[Doc. No. 5074, 29 FR 15695, Nov. 24, 1964, as 
amended by Amdt. 27–26, 55 FR 8001, Mar. 6, 
1990] 

§ 27.785

Seats, berths, litters, safety 

belts, and harnesses. 

(a) Each seat, safety belt, harness, 

and adjacent part of the rotorcraft at 
each station designated for occupancy 
during takeoff and landing must be free 
of potentially injurious objects, sharp 
edges, protuberances, and hard surfaces 
and must be designed so that a person 
making proper use of these facilities 
will not suffer serious injury in an 
emergency landing as a result of the 
static inertial load factors specified in 

§ 27.561(b) and dynamic conditions spec-
ified in § 27.562. 

(b) Each occupant must be protected 

from serious head injury by a safety 
belt plus a shoulder harness that will 
prevent the head from contacting any 
injurious object except as provided for 
in § 27.562(c)(5). A shoulder harness 
(upper torso restraint), in combination 
with the safety belt, constitutes a 
torso restraint system as described in 
TSO-C114. 

(c) Each occupant’s seat must have a 

combined safety belt and shoulder har-
ness with a single-point release. Each 
pilot’s combined safety belt and shoul-
der harness must allow each pilot when 
seated with safety belt and shoulder 
harness fastened to perform all func-
tions necessary for flight operations. 
There must be a means to secure belts 
and harnesses, when not in use, to pre-
vent interference with the operation of 
the rotorcraft and with rapid egress in 
an emergency. 

(d) If seat backs do not have a firm 

handhold, there must be hand grips or 
rails along each aisle to enable the oc-
cupants to steady themselves while 
using the aisle in moderately rough 
air. 

(e) Each projecting object that could 

injure persons seated or moving about 
in the rotorcraft in normal flight must 
be padded. 

(f) Each seat and its supporting 

structure must be designed for an occu-
pant weight of at least 170 pounds con-
sidering the maximum load factors, in-
ertial forces, and reactions between oc-
cupant, seat, and safety belt or harness 
corresponding with the applicable 
flight and ground load conditions, in-
cluding the emergency landing condi-
tions of § 27.561(b). In addition— 

(1) Each pilot seat must be designed 

for the reactions resulting from the ap-
plication of the pilot forces prescribed 
in § 27.397; and 

(2) The inertial forces prescribed in 

§ 27.561(b) must be multiplied by a fac-
tor of 1.33 in determining the strength 
of the attachment of— 

(i) Each seat to the structure; and 
(ii) Each safety belt or harness to the 

seat or structure. 

(g) When the safety belt and shoulder 

harness are combined, the rated 
strength of the safety belt and shoulder 

VerDate Sep<11>2014 

09:06 Jun 28, 2024

Jkt 262046

PO 00000

Frm 00531

Fmt 8010

Sfmt 8010

Y:\SGML\262046.XXX

262046

jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with CFR