FAR 23.2510 — Systems Failure Safety Standards
FAR 23.2510 sets the failure probability vs. severity standard for Part 23 airplane systems and equipment — catastrophic, hazardous, and major failure tiers explained.
FAR 23.2510 is a catch-all certification standard for Part 23 airplanes (normal category). It applies to any system or equipment whose failure isn't already covered by another specific Part 23 rule.
The core idea: there must be a logical and acceptable inverse relationship between how likely a failure is and how severe its consequences would be. In plain terms — the worse the outcome, the rarer it must be.
The regulation sets three required probability tiers:
- Catastrophic failure conditions must be extremely improbable.
- Hazardous failure conditions must be extremely remote.
- Major failure conditions must be remote.
Why it matters operationally: this rule shapes how manufacturers design redundancy, system architecture, and equipment installation in modern light airplanes. As a pilot, it's why you can generally trust that a single component failure shouldn't bring the airplane down — designers had to prove the math behind that assurance during certification.