DeCleene-AFS-400 2013

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Federal Aviation Administration Memorandum

Date:

To:

From:

Prepared by:

Subject:

MAY 28 2013 Bruce DeCleene, Manager, Flight Technologies and Procedures Division, AFS-

Mark W. Bury, Acting Assistant Chief Counsel, International .Lawi-~~ta· and Regulations Division, AGC-200 Dean E. Griffith, Attorney, AGC-220 Legal Interpretation regarding 14 C.F.R. § 97.3, Aircraft Approach Category This memorandum is in response to your request for legal interpretation on the meaning of "aircraft approach category" as defined 14 C.F.R. § 97 .3 1 dated September 24, 2012. Specifically you ask if the phrase " maximum certificated landing weight" as used in§ 97.3 applies to aircraft grouped by speed ofVREf.2 The answer to your question is "yes" the phrase "maximum certificated landin~ weight" applies to both aircraft grouped by speed of V REF as well as aircraft grouped by 1.3 Vso. · In 1972 the FAA implemented the U.S. Standard for Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS). The TERPS rule changed the way the FAA defined aircraft approach categories from one based on the number of engines to new criteria based on stall speed in landing configuration or aircraft weight. Specifically "aircraft approach category" was defined as a "grouping of aircraft based on a speed of 1.3 Vso (at maximum certificated landing weight) or on maximum certificated landing weight." See 32 Fed. Reg. 13909, 13911-12 (Oct 6, 1967); 32 Fed. Reg. 6938, 6939 (May 5, 1967). Section 97.3 was amended later to remove the option for basing aircraft approach categories strictly on maximum certificated landing weight. See 44 Fed. Reg. 15659 (Mar. 15, 1979). The only remaining way to make this determination was " 1.3 Vso (at maximum certificated landing weight)." Id.

In 1996 the FAA proposed replacing "1.3 Vso" with "VREF" in the definition of "aircraft approach category" in§ 97.3. See 61 Fed. Reg. 1260, 1263 (Jan. 18, 1996). The proposed definition specified that aircraft would be grouped "based on a speed of VREF at the maximum certificated landing weight." Id. at 1268. After additional review, the FAA determined that 1 Section 97.3 provides in pertinent part: "Aircraft approach category means a grouping of aircraft based on a speed of VREF, if specified, or ifVREF is not specified, 1.3 Vso at the maximum certificated landing weight." 2 VREFmeans reference landing speed. 14 C.F.R. § 1.2.

3 Yso means the stalling speed or the minimum steady flight speed in the landing configuration. 14 C.F.R. § 1.2.

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application of the VREF standard "to aircraft certificated using V s"4 could cause confusion for users of the airspace system and that some airplane flight manuals would not be consistent with the new VREF terminology. See 67 Fed. Reg. 70812, 70822 (Nov. 26, 2002). Therefore, the FAA revised§ 97.3 in the final rule to "continue to reference 1.3 Vso for use in those cases where V REF is not specified." Id.

The reguJatory history demonstrates that the FAA intended the "maximum certificated landing weight" qualifier to apply to aircraft for which either V REF or 1.3 Vso are used to determine approach category. The new VREF standard as proposed in 1996 required "maximum certificated landing weight" to be part of the determination. The FAA revised the final rule so that aircraft approach categories could still be determined using the existing " 1.3 V so at maximum certificated landing weight" standard in addition to the VREF standard proposed in the NPRM. The preamble to the final rule contained no discussion of removing the reference to maximum certificated landing weight for the VREF standard proposed in the NPRM. We therefore conclude that for aircraft grouped by speed of VREF aircraft approach category must be determined using speed ofVREF at the maximum certificated landing weight.

This interpretation was coordinated through the Flight Technologies and Procedures Division of Flight Standards Service. Please contact my office at (202) 267-3073 with any questions. 4 Vs means the stalling speed or the minimum steady flight speed at which the airplane is controllable. 14 C.F.R. § 1.2.