The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently considering proposed changes to fire protection regulations for aircraft interiors. On one hand, the proposed changes would extend requirements to materials used in inaccessible portions of the fuselage, not currently clearly covered. On the other hand, prescriptive test requirements would be replaced by performance based standards, and specifications for general categories of components (e.g. large surface area components) rather than specific categories (such as partitions). Standards would be divided into two parts: protection of the airplane and occupants from in-flight fires and protection from post-crash hazards. The objectives are to enable more flexible testing and to avoid individual component materials being subject to multiple different and redundant testing requirements. The proposals were published for consultation until 1st October 2019.
Federal Aviation Administration Notice of Proposed Rulemaking “Interior parts and components fire protection for transport category airplanes” Federal Register, vol. 84, n° 128, 3 July 2019 pp31747 onds. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-03/pdf/2019-13646.pdf