Department of Transportation February 2, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA proposes to rule and invites public comment on the application to impose and use the revenue from a PFC at Key West International Airport under the provisions of the Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 (Title IX of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990) (Pub. L. 101-508) and Part 158 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Part 158).

This action amends Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, part 71 (14 CFR 71) by revising Class E airspace areas at Rolla/Vichy, MO. A review of the Class E airspace surface area and the Class E airspace area extending upward from 700 feet above ground level (AGL) at Rolla/ Vichy, MO reveals neither area complies with criteria for extensions nor reflects the current Rolla National Airport airport reference point (APR). Also, the legal descriptions of both area are not in proper format. These airspace areas and their legal descriptions are modified to conform to the criteria in FAA Orders.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces May 1, 2005, as the deadline for each airport sponsor to notify the FAA that it will use its fiscal year 2005 entitlement funds to accomplish projects identified in the Airports Capital Improvement Plan that was formulated in the spring of 2004.

This notice announces the issuance of Advisory Circular (AC) 23.1523. This Advisory Circular (AC) sets forth one method that may be used to show compliance to the requirements contained within 14 CFR, part 23, 23.1523, which prescribes the certification requirements for minimum flight crew on part 23 airplanes. This AC is one method that can be used to determine workload factors and issues for normal, utility, acrobatic and commuter category airplanes. Material in this AC is neither mandatory nor regulatory in nature and does not constitute a regulation. This material is a reference for part 23 airplane manufacturers, modifiers, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) design evaluation engineers, flight test engineers, engineering flight test pilots [Aircraft Certification Office (ACO), and Flight Standards, and Manufacturers] as well as human factors engineering evaluators. This material may be used by FAA authorized designees to perform workload evaluations. This AC encourages participation and coordination from all the test community participants described above. This AC is consistent with the flight test guidance and workload factors described in the minimum flight crew evaluation sections and workload factors described in AC 23-8B. This AC is an acceptable means of showing compliance for part 23 on flight tests and pilot judgments. The draft advisory circular was issued for Public Comment on July 2, 2004 (69 FR 40451). When possible, comments received were used to modify the draft advisory circular.

The Surface Transportation Board proposes to adopt 1.035 (3.5%) as the measure of average change in railroad productivity for the 1999-2003 (5-year) period. The current value of 2.2% was developed for the 1998 to 2002 period.

This notice revises an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to Rolls Royce plc (RR) RB211-524 series turbofan engines with certain part number (P/N) intermediate pressure (IP) compressor stage 5 disks installed. That proposal required new reduced IP compressor stage 5 disk cyclic limits. That proposal also required removing from service affected disks that already exceed the new reduced cyclic limit, and removing other affected disks before exceeding their cyclic limits, using a drawdown schedule. That proposal resulted from the discovery of cracks in the cooling air hole areas of the disk front spacer arm. This Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) revises the proposed rule by correcting certain cycle life limits specified in Table 3 of that AD and by clarifying certain inspections. We are proposing this AD to prevent IP compressor stage 5 disk failure, which could result in uncontained engine failure and possible damage to the airplane.

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all Boeing Model 747 series airplanes, that requires repetitive inspections of the nacelle strut-to-wing attachment structure, and repetitive overhaul of the diagonal brace and spring beam load paths, to maintain damage tolerance requirements and ensure long-term structural integrity; and follow-on and corrective actions if necessary. This action is necessary to ensure the structural integrity of the strut-to-wing load path and prevent separation of the strut and engine from the airplane. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to certain Boeing Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes; and Model 757-200 and -200CB series airplanes, that requires inspection of the applicable body station frames for open body station frames and related investigative/corrective actions; and installation of lanyard hook brackets and lanyard assemblies under the air conditioning overhead ducts, as applicable. This action is necessary to prevent loosened or disconnected overhead ducts from causing ceiling panels to drop below the minimum height of the evacuation zone for the passenger cabin, which could result in inadequate height for safe exit in the event of an emergency evacuation. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.