The FAA has granted, with conditions, Raytheon Aircraft’s request that the Hawker 4000 be temporarily exempted from certain Part 25 amendments to enable the aircraft to receive type certification (TC) by year-end.

Under the exemptions, the aircraft will still have to meet certain provisions of both amendments before the FAA will issue the TC. However, the company will have until Sept. 1, 2008, to show compliance with the remaining provisions of fuel-tank ignition prevention rules and until June 1 next year to demonstrate compliance with the remaining provisions of hydraulic system performance rules. In addition, the FAA said it will issue no new airworthiness certificates for the type after these dates unless the newly produced airplanes are in compliance.

Operators that take delivery of aircraft during the exemption period might face a mandatory retrofit of design changes. If design changes are required to show compliance with the ignition rule, they must be incorporated on aircraft delivered before Sept. 1, 2008, or they cannot operate after Sept. 1, 2009. Likewise, if modifications are necessary to comply with the hydraulic rule, they must be made on airplanes delivered before June 1 next year or they cannot be operated after June 1, 2008.

“The granting of these two exemptions will allow us to proceed with the final details
in obtaining the type certificate for the Hawker 4000,” a spokesman told AIN. “The new requirements have been built into our plan and we expect no further delays. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Once we have completed the appropriate analysis and testing related to the changes in FAA regulations, we will incorporate the required modifications, as needed, into future deliveries of the aircraft.”

On May 31 the FAA granted Raytheon an extension to December 31 for obtaining a TC under the original application because the company had reached the agency’s five-year time limit for certification of the Hawker 4000 under Part 25 amendments that existed at the time of the TC application.