FAA Special Conditions: Gulfstream G300 Therapeutic Oxygen System

Content

ACTION:

Final special conditions; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

These special conditions are issued for the Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Gulfstream) Model G300 airplane. This airplane will have
a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category
airplanes. This design feature is the installation of a therapeutic oxygen distribution system that provides a shared source
of oxygen between the flightcrew and passengers. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate
safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator
considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

DATES:

This action is effective on Gulfstream on March 17, 2026. Send comments on or before May 1, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA-2025-5235 using any of the following methods:

• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically.

• Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140,
West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington,
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.

Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the West
Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert Hettman, Mechanical Systems, AIR-623, Technical Policy Branch, Policy and Standards Division, Aircraft Certification
Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 2200 South 216th Street, Des Moines, WA 98198; telephone 206-231-3171; email robert.hettman@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The substance of these special conditions has been published in the
Federal Register
for public comment in several prior instances with no substantive comments received. Therefore, the FAA finds, pursuant to
title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 11.38(b), that new comments are unlikely, and notice and comment prior to this
publication are unnecessary.

Privacy

Except for Confidential Business Information (CBI) as described in the following paragraph, and other information as described
in 14 CFR 11.35, the FAA will post all comments received without change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you provide. The FAA will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal contact
received about these special conditions.

Confidential Business Information

Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated
as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure.
If your comments responsive to these special conditions contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated
as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to these special conditions, it is important
that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing CBI as “PROPIN.”
The FAA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and the indicated comments will not be placed in
the public docket of these special conditions. Send submissions containing CBI to the individual listed in the For Further
Information Contact section above. Comments the FAA receives, which are not specifically designated as CBI, will be placed
in the public docket for these special conditions.

Comments Invited

The FAA invites interested people to take part in this rulemaking by sending written comments, data, or views. The most helpful
comments reference a specific portion of the special conditions, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include
supporting data.

The FAA will consider all comments received by the closing date for comments. The FAA may change these special conditions
based on the comments received.

Background

On January 23, 2025, Gulfstream applied for an amendment to Type Certificate No. A61NM to include the new Model G300 airplane.
The Gulfstream Model G300 airplane, which is a derivative of the Model G280 currently approved under Type Certificate No.
A61NM, is a twin-engine, transport-category airplane. It has a maximum seating capacity of 19 passengers and two crew, with
a maximum takeoff weight of 39,600 pounds.

Type Certification Basis

Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.101, Gulfstream must show that the Model G300 airplane meets the applicable provisions of
the regulations listed in Type Certificate No. A61NM, or the applicable regulations in effect on the date of application for
the change, except for earlier amendments as agreed upon by the FAA.

If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness regulations (e.g., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for the Gulfstream Model G300 airplane because of
a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16.

Special conditions are initially applicable to the model for which they are issued. Should the type certificate for that model
be amended later to include any other model that incorporates the same novel or unusual design feature, or should any other
model already included on the same type certificate be modified to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, these
special conditions would also apply to the other model under § 21.101.

In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the Gulfstream Model G300 airplane must comply
with the exhaust-emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the noise-certification requirements of 14 CFR part 36.

The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in accordance with 14 CFR 11.38, and they become part of the
type certification basis under § 21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

The Gulfstream Model G300 airplane will incorporate the following novel or unusual design feature:

An oxygen distribution system that provides a shared source of oxygen

  between the flightcrew and passengers to provide supplemental and therapeutic oxygen.

Discussion

No specific regulations address the design and installation of required passenger or crew oxygen systems that share a supply
source with an optional oxygen system used specifically for therapeutic applications. Therapeutic oxygen systems have been
previously certified, and were generally considered an extension of the passenger oxygen system for the purpose of defining
the applicable regulations. As a result, existing requirements, such as §§  25.1309, 25.1441(b) and (c), 25.1451, and 25.1453,
in the Gulfstream G300 airplanes' certification basis applicable to this Amended TC project, provide some design standards
appropriate for oxygen system installations. In addition, §  25.1445 includes standards for oxygen distribution systems when
oxygen is supplied to flightcrew and passengers. If a common source of supply is used, §  25.1445(a)(2) requires a means to
separately reserve the minimum supply required by the flightcrew.

Section 25.1445 is intended to protect the flightcrew by ensuring that an adequate supply of oxygen is available to complete
a descent and landing following a loss of cabin pressure. When the regulation was written, the only passenger oxygen system
designs were supplemental oxygen systems intended to protect passengers from hypoxia in the event of a decompression. Existing
passenger oxygen systems did not include design features that would allow the flightcrew to control oxygen to passengers during
flight. There are no similar requirements in §  25.1445 when oxygen is supplied from the same source to passengers for use
during a decompression, and for discretionary or first-aid use any time during the flight. In the design, the crew, passenger,
and therapeutic oxygen systems use the same source of oxygen. These special conditions contain additional design requirements
for the equipment involved in this dual therapeutic oxygen plus supplemental gaseous oxygen installation.

These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a
level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

Applicability

As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the Gulfstream Model G300 airplane. Should Gulfstream apply
at a later date for a change to the type certificate to include another model incorporating the same novel or unusual design
feature, or should any other model already included on the same type certificate be modified to incorporate the same novel
or unusual design feature, these special conditions would apply to that model as well.

Conclusion

This action affects only a certain novel or unusual design feature on one model of airplane. It is not a rule of general applicability.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25

Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Authority Citation

The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

Authority:

49 U.S.C. 106(f), 40113, 44701, 44702, and 44704.

The Special Conditions

Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the following special conditions are issued as
part of the type certification basis for Gulfstream Aerospace LP Model G300 airplanes.

The distribution system for the passenger therapeutic oxygen system must be designed and installed to meet requirements as
follows:

(1) When oxygen is supplied to passengers for both supplemental and therapeutic purposes, the distribution system must be
designed for either—

(a) A source of supplemental oxygen for protection following a loss of cabin pressure, and a separate source for therapeutic
purposes; or

(b) A common source of supply with means to separately reserve the minimum supply required by the passengers for supplemental
use following a loss of cabin pressure.

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 12, 2026. Jorge R. Castillo, Manager, Technical Policy Branch, AIR-620, Policy and Standards Division, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2026-05198 Filed 3-16-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

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