Special Conditions: Honeywell Aerospace US LLC, Dassault Aviation Model Falcon 900EX Airplane; Electronic System Security Protection From Unauthorized Internal Access
Key claim: The FAA is issuing special conditions for the Dassault Falcon 900EX modified by Honeywell to establish cybersecurity safety standards protecting internal electronic systems from unauthorized internal network access, since existing airworthiness regulations do not adequately cover this novel digital/wireless network design feature.
Abstract
(Rule · Transportation Department, Federal Aviation Administration) These special conditions are issued for the Dassault Aviation (Dassault) Model Falcon 900EX airplane. This airplane, as modified by Honeywell Aerospace US LLC (Honeywell), 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 digital system that contains a wireless and hardwired network with hosted application functionality that allows access, from sources internal to the airplane, to the airplane’s internal electronic components. 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.
Why this matters
Special conditions for internal-network cybersecurity extend the FAA’s case-by-case approach to connected-aircraft airworthiness, signaling that both external and internal attack surfaces on modified avionics must be addressed before certification. The pattern of paired external/internal special conditions on the same aircraft modification suggests a de facto template that could eventually be codified into general airworthiness cybersecurity rules.