(a) Each emergency exit must consist of a movable door or hatch in the
external walls of the fuselage and must provide an unobstructed opening to
the outside.
(b) Each emergency exit must be openable from the inside and from the
outside.
(c) The means of opening each emergency exit must be simple and obvious
and may not require exceptional effort.
(d) There must be means for locking each emergency exit and for
preventing opening in flight inadvertently or as a result of mechanical
failure.
(e) There must be means to minimize the probability of the jamming of
any emergency exit in a minor crash landing as a result of fuselage
deformation under the ultimate inertial forces in §29.783(d).
(f) Except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, each
land-based rotorcraft emergency exit must have an approved slide as stated
in paragraph (g) of this section, or its equivalent, to assist occupants
in descending to the ground from each floor level exit and an approved
rope, or its equivalent, for all other exits, if the exit threshold is
more that 6 feet above the ground --
(1) With the rotorcraft on the ground and with the landing gear
extended;
(2) With one or more legs or part of the landing gear collapsed,
broken, or not extended; and
(3) With the rotorcraft resting on its side, if required by §29.803(d).
(g) The slide for each passenger emergency exit must be a
self-supporting slide or equivalent, and must be designed to meet the
following requirements:
(1) It must be automatically deployed, and deployment must begin during
the interval between the time the exit opening means is actuated from
inside the rotorcraft and the time the exit is fully opened. However, each
passenger emergency exit which is also a passenger entrance door or a
service door must be provided with means to prevent deployment of the
slide when the exit is opened from either the inside or the outside under
nonemergency conditions for normal use.
(2) It must be automatically erected within 10 seconds after deployment
is begun.
(3) It must be of such length after full deployment that the lower end
is self-supporting on the ground and provides safe evacuation of occupants
to the ground after collapse of one or more legs or part of the landing
gear.
(4) It must have the capability, in 25-knot winds directed from the
most critical angle, to deploy and, with the assistance of only one
person, to remain usable after full deployment to evacuate occupants
safely to the ground.
(5) Each slide installation must be qualified by five consecutive
deployment and inflation tests conducted (per exit) without failure, and
at least three tests of each such five-test series must be conducted using
a single representative sample of the device. The sample devices must be
deployed and inflated by the system's primary means after being subjected
to the inertia forces specified in §29.561(b). If any part of the system
fails or does not function properly during the required tests, the cause
of the failure or malfunction must be corrected by positive means and
after that, the full series of five consecutive deployment and inflation
tests must be conducted without failure.
(h) For rotorcraft having 30 or fewer passenger seats and having an
exit threshold more than 6 feet above the ground, a rope or other assist
means may be used in place of the slide specified in paragraph (f) of this
section, provided an evacuation demonstration is accomplished as
prescribed in §29.803(d) or (e).
(i) If a rope, with its attachment, is used for compliance with
paragraph (f), (g), or (h) of this section, it must --
(1) Withstand a 400-pound static load; and
(2) Attach to the fuselage structure at or above the top of the
emergency exit opening, or at another approved location if the stowed rope
would reduce the pilot's view in flight.