Accepted Means of Compliance (MOC); Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Aviation Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>14 CFR Part 23</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FAA-2025-0438]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Accepted Means of Compliance (MOC); Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notification of availability (NOA). <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This document announces the availability of ASTM International (ASTM) consensus standards for use as an FAA-accepted MOC to the applicable airworthiness standards for normal category airplanes. The FAA accepts ASTM F3264-24, “Standard Specification for Normal Category Aeroplanes Certification,” with changes identified in this document. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Acceptance of the means of compliance is effective on May 20, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Hieu Nguyen, Federal Aviation Administration, Policy and Standards Division, AIR-600, GA, Airplanes, Rotorcraft and Emerging Aircraft Section, AIR-62B, 901 Locust Street, Room 301, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; telephone: (316) 946-4123; facsimile: (316) 946-4107; email: <E T="03">hieu.nguyen@faa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> Under the provisions of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities,” effective January 27, 2016, the FAA participates in the development of consensus standards for use as a means of carrying out its policy objectives where appropriate. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">Ref</E> Public Law 104-113 as amended by Public Law 107-107. </FTNT> Consistent with the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013, the FAA has been working with industry and other stakeholders through the ASTM F44 Committee on General Aviation Aircraft to develop consensus standards as a MOC in certificating small airplanes under part 23. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">Ref</E> Public Law 113-53. </FTNT> In part 23, amendment 23-64 (81 FR 96572), published on December 30, 2016, <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> the final rule stated the FAA would publish an NOA of those consensus standards in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> when the Administrator accepts the consensus standards as an acceptable MOC. The FAA reviewed the published ASTM consensus standards developed by the ASTM F44 Committee on General Aviation Aircraft as the basis for a MOC to 65 sections of part 23, amendments 23-64 and 23-65. In some cases, the Administrator found sections of ASTM F3264-24, without changes, are accepted as a MOC for the airworthiness requirements of part 23, amendments 23-64 and 23-65. In other cases, the MOC, while based on ASTM consensus standards, include additional FAA provisions necessary to comply with the airworthiness requirements of part 23, amendments 23-64 and 23-65. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/30/2016-30246/revision-of-airworthiness-standards-for-normal-utility-acrobatic-and-commuter-category-airplanes.</E> </FTNT> Part 23, amendment 23-64, established airworthiness requirements based on the safety requirements outlined in amendment 23-63, except in areas that address loss of control and icing, where the FAA increased the safety level. Depending on the details of a design, the applicant may require use of a different MOC beyond those accepted by this NOA. For example, novel airplane designs, such as unmanned airplanes or vertical takeoff and landing airplanes, may be outside the scope of this NOA, and applicants may need to propose an alternative MOC applicable to their designs accepted under § 23.2010. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Means of Compliance Accepted</HD> The FAA accepts only the revisions of the standards referenced in ASTM F3264-24, “Standard Specification for Normal Category Aeroplanes Certification,” as a MOC for part 23, amendments 23-64 and 23-65, with the changes identified in table 1. For ease of use, table 2 was added to provide a side-by-side view, linking the applicable part 23 regulation to the ASTM F3264-24 section. This is a guidance document. Its content is not legally binding in its own right and will not be relied upon by the Department as a separate basis for affirmative enforcement action or other administrative penalty. Conformity with the guidance document is voluntary only, and nonconformity will not affect rights and obligations under existing statutes and regulations. <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  The MOC are intended for traditional part 23 airplanes, not for novel designs. Novel designs require evaluation and possible modification of the MOC. <SU>5</SU>  Wherever “shall” is used within a standard, replace with “must.” <SU>6</SU>  You may find additional information on the FAA Small Airplane Issues List (SAIL) here: <E T="03">https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/small_airplanes/small_airplanes_regs/.</E> </FTNT> <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,nj,p7,7/8,i1" CDEF="s50,r75,r100,r100"> <TTITLE> Table 1—Part 23 Accepted MOC Based on ASTM Consensus Standards  <SU>4</SU>   <SU>5</SU> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> ASTM No. as identified in F3264-24 </CHED> <CHED H="1">ASTM document title</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Changes required for FAA acceptance  <ENT>Standard Guide for Aircraft Electrical Load and Power Source Capacity Analysis</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3061/F3061M-22b</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Systems and Equipment in Aircraft</ENT> <ENT> The tables defining applicability of requirements in sections 4, 10, 13, and 17 are not accepted. Applicability will be determined by the Policy and Standards Division Replace 17.3.1.1 with: (a) Each electrical or electronic system that performs a function, the failure of which would prevent the continued safe flight and landing of the airplane, must be designed, and installed such that— (1) The function at the airplane level is not adversely affected during and after the time the airplane is exposed to lightning; and (2) The system recovers normal operation of that function in a timely manner after the airplane is exposed to lightning unless the system's recovery conflicts with other operational or functional requirements of the system. </ENT> <ENT> The tables defining applicability found in F3061/F3061M-22b sections 4, 10, 13, and 17 are not accepted. Applicability will be determined by the Policy and Standards Division. Aircraft certification levels are as defined in 14 CFR 23.2005. F3061/F3061M-22b does not contain means for showing compliance to § 23.2310, <E T="03">Buoyancy for seaplanes and amphibians.</E> If applying for certification of a seaplane or amphibian, applicants may use the provisions of §§ 23.751, 23.755, and 23.757 at amendment 23-63 as a means of complying with § 23.2310 or may obtain FAA acceptance of a different MOC in accordance with § 23.2010. </ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22"> </ENT> Replace 17.3.1.2 with: (b) Each electrical and electronic system that performs a function, the failure of which would significantly reduce the capability of the airplane or the ability of the flight crew to respond to an adverse operating condition, must be designed and installed such that the system recovers normal operation of that function in a timely manner after the airplane is exposed to lightning. Remove 17.3.1.3. </ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22"> </ENT> <ENT O="xl"/> <ENT>Replace 10.4.2, 10.4.3, 10.4.4 Level 1 with Level 4</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3062/F3062M-20</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aircraft Powerplant Installation</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3063/F3063M-21</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aircraft Fuel Storage and Delivery</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3064/F3064M-21</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aircraft Powerplant Control, Operation, and Indication</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3065/F3065M-21a</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aircraft Propeller System Installation</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3066/F3066M-18</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aircraft Powerplant Installation Hazard Mitigation</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3082/F3082M-22</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Weights and Centers of Gravity of Aircraft</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3083/F3083M-20a</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Emergency Conditions, Occupant Safety, and Accommodations</ENT> <ENT>Replace 4.1.6 with: Powerplant and ESS mounts and supporting structures must withstand 18.0 g forward for powerplants and ESS installed behind and above the seating compartment</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3093/F3093M-21</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Aeroelasticity Requirements</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3114-21</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Structures</ENT> <ENT>None</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">F3115/F3115M-23</ENT> <ENT>Standard Specification for Structural Durability for Small Aeroplanes</ENT> <ENT>Replace 4.4.3.3 with: The residual strength evaluation must show that the remaining structure is able to withstand the residual strength loads in 4.5 with the extent of detectable damage consistent with the results of the damage tolerance evaluations. The residual strength demonstrated for inspectable damage shall be sufficiently above limit loads in 4.5 and should consider variables such as the seve ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 67k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━