(a) The launching appliance for a free-fall lifeboat must be designed and installed so that the launching appliance and the lifeboat it serves operate as a system to protect the occupants from harmful acceleration forces and to effectively clear the unit.

(b) The launching appliance must be designed and arranged so that in its ready to launch position, the distance from the lowest point on the lifeboat it serves to the water surface with the unit in its lightest seagoing condition does not exceed the lifeboat's certificated free-fall height.

(c) The launching appliance must be arranged so as to preclude accidental release of the lifeboat in its unattended stowed position. If the means provided to secure the lifeboat cannot be released from inside the lifeboat, the means to secure the lifeboat must be arranged as to preclude boarding the lifeboat without first releasing it.

(d) Each free-fall launching arrangement must be provided with a secondary means to launch the lifeboat by falls. Such means must comply with the requirements of §§ 108.550, 108.553, and 108.555. Notwithstanding § 108.550(e), the launching appliance must be capable of launching the lifeboat against unfavorable conditions of list of 5 degrees in any direction and it need not comply with the speed requirements of §§ 108.553 (g), (h), and (i).

If the secondary launching appliance is not dependent on gravity, stored mechanical power or other manual means, the launching arrangement must be connected both to the unit's main and emergency power supplies.