The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued special conditions for ice protection on Embraer’s Phenom 300 business jet before issuing a US certification for the aircraft.

The FAA requires Embraer to address a built-in inhibit for wing and horizontal stabiliser bleed-air anti-icing protection when the aircraft is flying above 30,000ft (9,140m) or when the air temperature is below a certain temperature.

Embraer chose to prohibit flight in icing conditions above 30,000ft out of the two options given by FAA including having no restrictions above 30,000ft through a series of suggested flight tests.

According to Embraer, the required AFM procedure doesn’t represent a practical restriction to the aircraft due to the low frequency of finding icing conditions above 30,000ft.

The airframer certificated the six-passenger PW535E-powered twin-jet in Brazil on 3 December 2009, followed by FAA certification on 14 December 2009.