Aircraft Systems Design: Lessons Learned from SFAR 88

FAR 88 mandated a review of fuel tank system service history to reveal ignition sources in airplane fuel tanks due to unforeseen failure modes or factors not considered at the time of original certification of the airplane. SFAR 88 required qualitative and quantitative safety analyses to show any anticipated latent failure condition did not leave the fuel system one failure away from fuel tank ignition. These analyses also identified all fuel system architecture and component design features required to prevent ignition sources. These mandated analyses point to the need for fuel system architectures that are more robust with respect to unknown failure modes and latent failures