Department of Transportation August 7, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on May 22, 2012 [Volume 77, No. 99, Page 30352].

We are revising an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to all Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires revising the airplane flight manual (AFM) to include a procedure intended to address the unsafe condition, an inspection of the firewall connector for signs of arcing if an integrated drive generator (IDG) (or generator (GEN)) was shut down in-flight automatically or using the AFM procedure, and corrective action if necessary; and provides an optional terminating action for certain AFM revision and inspections. This AD was prompted by the potential for an inadvertent error by flightcrew to use the IDG switch instead of the GEN switch when doing the AFM display unit failure procedure required by the existing AD. This AD retains the actions required by the existing AD and clarifies certain terminology. We are issuing this AD to prevent transient loss of certain systems, which could result in the reduced ability of the flightcrew to cope with adverse flight conditions.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-400 and 747-400D series airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of an in-flight multi-power system loss of the 1, 2, and 3 alternating current electrical power systems located in the main equipment center (MEC). This AD requires installing aluminum gutter reinforcing brackets to the forward and aft drip shield gutters of the MEC; and adding a reinforcing fiberglass overcoat to the top surface of the MEC drip shield, including an inspection for cracking and holes in the MEC drip shield, and corrective actions if necessary. This AD also provides for an option to install an MEC drip shield drain system, which, if accomplished, would extend the compliance time for adding the reinforcing fiberglass overcoat to the top surface of the MEC drip shield. We are issuing this AD to prevent water penetration into the MEC, which could result in the loss of flight critical systems.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) certain Airbus Model A310-203, -221, and -222 airplanes. This AD was prompted by the manufacturer re-classifying slat extension eccentric bolts as principal structural elements with replacement due at or before their calculated fatigue lives. This AD replaces certain slat extension eccentric bolts with new bolts. We are issuing this AD to prevent fatigue cracking, which could result in the loss of structural integrity of the airplane.