The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing not to test the ballistic parachute system (BPS) fitted to the Cirrus SF50 Vision jet because the regulations don't cover the technology.
The FAA lodged the proposal on 18 March because the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) won't be required for the single-engined jet to be certified, and is therefore a supplementary system.
Both the SR22 and the SR20 must have the CAPS to meet the design and performance standards of Federal Aviation Regulation 23 (FAR 23).
In the case of the SF50, the CAPS system will interact with the avionics so the autopilot will put the aircraft into a performance envelope to make CAPS release safe.
One of the reasons the FAA is proposing not to test the system is that FAR 23 doesn't cover this technology.
"This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with a whole airplane parachute recovery system," the FAA proposal states. "The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature."
Although a test won't be performed, Cirrus Aircraft will have to show that the CAPS, when deployed and performing as intended, won't interfere with any other aircraft system.
FAR 23 "does not mandate that non-required equipment and systems function properly during all airplane operations once in service, provided all potential failure conditions have no effect on the safe operation of the airplane."
The FAA is expected to issue the type certificate for the SF50 in the first half of this year.