2024-25238

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: • the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document • the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to • the agency docket number / agency internal file number • the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration • 14 CFR Part 21 • [Docket No. FAA-2022-1726] ( printed page 86713) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Issuance of final airworthiness criteria. SUMMARY: The FAA announces the special class airworthiness criteria for the AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation (AWPC) Model AW609 powered-lift. This document sets forth the airworthiness criteria the FAA finds to be appropriate and applicable for the powered-lift design. DATES: These airworthiness criteria are effective December 2, 2024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard C Snyder, Certification Coordination Section, AIR-613, Policy and Standards Division, Aircraft Certification Service, 10101 Hillwood Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76177; telephone and fax 817-222-4486; email richard.c.snyder@faa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The AWPC Model AW609 is a two-engine powered-lift with a maximum weight of 17,500 lbs., and a capacity of two crew and nine passengers. The aircraft has two “proprotors” instead of propellers or rotors. The AW609 design is a direct descendant of the Bell Helicopter Model BA609 certification project, which had design origins from the experimental Bell XV-15 aircraft. The FAA issued a notice of proposed airworthiness criteria for the AW609 powered-lift, which published in the Federal Register on June 9, 2023 (88 FR 37805). After several changes of applicants, on February 15, 2012, AgustaWestland Tilt-Rotor Company, now AWPC, applied for a type certificate for the Model AW609. Under 14 CFR 21.17(c), an application for type certification is effective for three years, unless the FAA approves a longer period. Section 21.17(d) provides that, where a type certificate has not been issued within the time limit established under § 21.17(c), the applicant may file for an extension and update the designated applicable regulations in the type certification basis. Since the project was not certificated within the established time limit, the FAA approved a series of requests for extension by AWPC with the most recent request submitted on February 22, 2024. If the application extension is approved, the date of the updated type certification basis will change from March 31, 2021, to March 31, 2024. Discussion Powered-lift are type certificated as special class aircraft because the FAA has not yet established powered-lift airworthiness standards as a separate part of subchapter C of 14 CFR. Under the procedures in § 21.17(b), the airworthiness requirements for special class aircraft are the portions of the requirements in parts 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, and 35 found by the FAA to be appropriate and applicable to the specific type design and any other airworthiness criteria found by the FAA to provide an equivalent level of safety to the existing standards. These final airworthiness criteria announce the applicable regulations and other airworthiness criteria developed for type certification of the Model AW609 powered-lift under § 21.17(b). The powered-lift has characteristics of both a rotorcraft and an airplane. It is designed to function as a helicopter for takeoff and landing, and as an airplane cruising at higher speeds than a helicopter during the enroute portion of flight operations. Accordingly, the Model AW609 certification basis contains standards from parts 23, 25, and 29, as well …

Fonte: Federal Register (federalregister.gov). Texto original em inglês. Conteúdo sanitizado por segurança.