FAR 23.2400 — Powerplant Installation
FAR 23.2400 covers powerplant installation rules for Part 23 airplanes: type certification, hazard isolation, clearances, and component limitations.
In Plain English
FAR 23.2400 sets the airworthiness ground rules for how a powerplant is installed on a Part 23 airplane. The "powerplant installation" includes every component needed for propulsion, anything that affects propulsion safety, or that provides auxiliary power.
Key requirements:
- Type certification: Each engine and propeller must be type certificated. The exception is engines and propellers on level 1 low-speed airplanes, which can instead be approved under the airplane's type certificate using standards accepted by the Administrator.
- Construction and arrangement must account for:
- Likely operating conditions, including foreign object threats
- Sufficient clearance of moving parts from other airplane parts and surroundings
- Hazards in operation, including hazards to ground personnel
- Vibration and fatigue
- Hazardous fluids, vapors, or gases must be isolated from the airplane and personnel compartments and be safely contained or discharged.
- Powerplant components must comply with their component limitations and installation instructions, or be shown not to create a hazard.
Why it matters: as a pilot, this is the certification basis ensuring your engine, prop, and supporting systems were installed to handle real-world threats — birds, vibration, fuel/oil leaks, and ground ops — before the airplane ever earned its airworthiness certificate.
Regulation Text
14 CFR § 23.2400§ 23.2400 Powerplant installation.
(a) For the purpose of this subpart, the airplane powerplant installation must include each component necessary for propulsion, which affects propulsion safety, or provides auxiliary power to the airplane.
(b) Each airplane engine and propeller must be type certificated, except for engines and propellers installed on level 1 low-speed airplanes, which may be approved under the airplane type certificate in accordance with a standard accepted by the Administrator that contains airworthiness criteria the Administrator has found appropriate and applicable to the specific design and intended use of the engine or propeller and provides a level of safety acceptable to the Administrator.
(c) The applicant must construct and arrange each powerplant installation to account for—
(1) Likely operating conditions, including foreign object threats;
(2) Sufficient clearance of moving parts to other airplane parts and their surroundings;
(3) Likely hazards in operation including hazards to ground personnel; and
(4) Vibration and fatigue.
(d) Hazardous accumulations of fluids, vapors, or gases must be isolated from the airplane and personnel compartments, and be safely contained or discharged.
(e) Powerplant components must comply with their component limitations and installation instructions or be shown not to create a hazard.
[Doc. No. FAA-2015-1621, Amdt. 23-64, 81 FR 96689, Dec. 30, 2016, as amended by Doc. No. FAA-2022-1355, Amdt. 23-65, 87 FR 75710, Dec. 9, 2022]
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Oral Exam Questions a DPE Might Ask
Q1What does the FAA consider part of the 'powerplant installation' on a Part 23 airplane?
Per FAR 23.2400, the powerplant installation includes every component necessary for propulsion, anything that affects propulsion safety, and any component that provides auxiliary power to the airplane.
Q2Do the engine and propeller on a Part 23 airplane have to be type certificated?
Yes. FAR 23.2400(b) requires each engine and propeller to be type certificated, except on level 1 low-speed airplanes, where they may be approved under the airplane type certificate using a standard accepted by the Administrator.
Q3What hazards must the applicant account for when arranging a powerplant installation?
Under FAR 23.2400(c), the installation must account for likely operating conditions including foreign object threats, clearance of moving parts, operational hazards including hazards to ground personnel, and vibration and fatigue.
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§23.2310 Seaplane & Amphibian Buoyancy
80% excess buoyancy and flotation after likely hull or float flooding
§23.2335 Lightning Protection
Airplane protection from catastrophic lightning effects
§23.2500 Airplane-Level Systems
System safety requirements at the complete-airplane level
§23.2145 Stability
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§23.2250 Design & Construction
Design and construction principles for normal-category airplanes
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