The general aviation ("GA") industry has been lobbying for years to make it easier and cheaper to certify new airplanes and bring new technologies to market. In 2011, the FAA formed the Part 23 Reorganization Advisory and Rule Making Committee ("ARC") composed of multinational industry and government organizations to recommend updated certification standards for small aircraft, resulting in the Small Plane Revitalization Act (Public Law 113-53), which President Obama signed into law on November 27, 2013.

The Small Plane Revitalization Act requires the FAA to replace the current, prescriptive requirements for certification with ones that are performance-based, and to utilize consensus based standards. Prescriptive design standards specify a particular design requirement, such as materials to be used, how to perform a test, or how an item is to be fabricated or constructed. Performance, or outcome-based standards, state requirements in terms of required results, but do not prescribe any specific method for achieving the required result.

The current Part 23 certification standards were originally established in 1965 and have become more focused on high-performance, turbine powered airplanes, creating a barrier to the efficient certification and introduction to market of new entry-level, simple airplanes (defined by the FAA as entry level airplanes with up to one passenger and limited to VFR operations).

On March 14, 2016, the FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") aimed at (1) establishing a performance-based regulatory regime for small aircraft and (2) adding new certification standards for loss of control and aircraft icing. This NPRM constitutes one of the largest proposed regulatory revisions in the FAA's history. The NPRM proposes to establish performance and risk-based divisions for airplanes with a maximum seating capacity of 19 passengers and a maximum weight of 19,000 pounds. The proposal will eliminate commuter, utility, and acrobatic airplane categories from Part 23, retaining only the normal category. For example, the NPRM proposes the following airplane certification levels:

  • Level 1: maximum seating of 0 to 1 passengers, including simple airplanes
  • Level 2: maximum seating of 2 to 6 passengers
  • Level 3: maximum seating of 7 to 9 passengers
  • Level 4: maximum seating of 10 to 19 passengers.

In addition, the NPRM proposes the following airplane performance levels:

  • Low speed: maximum operating limit up to 250 knots
  • High speed: maximum operating limit greater than 250 knots.

In addition to these new classifications, the NPRM proposes new requirements to improve stall characteristics and pilot situational awareness to prevent loss of control accidents, and addresses icing certification. For those manufacturers who certify an aircraft with a prohibition against flight in super cooled large droplets ("SLD") conditions, the proposed rule would require a means for detecting SLD and showing the airplane can safely exit such conditions. Manufacturers that choose to certify an airplane for flight in SLD, must demonstrate safe operations in such conditions.

The FAA's comment period for the NPRM closed on May 13, 2016, and sixty-one comments were received. Aircraft manufacturers argue that this streamlined Part 23 will reduce certification costs and the price of new aircraft, and allow for the incorporation of new technologies. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has stated that the changes will double safety at half the cost. Positive comments to the FAA's proposed rule were received from various industry organizations such as the Aircraft owners and Pilots Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Aircraft Electronics Association, and Experimental Aircraft Association.

The NTSB, however, raised concerns about how the new certification process would work, and warns that the revised certification process for light aircraft could allow inferior designs to slip through the cracks, impacting safety. The NTSB cited deficiencies in the use of consensus standards currently used in the design of light sport aircraft that do not provide adequate protection, and which have resulted in in-flight

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.