Department of Transportation September 14, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA announces the charter renewal of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC), a Federal Advisory Committee that works with industry and the public to improve the development of the FAA's regulations. This charter renewal will take effect on September 17, 2012, and will expire after 2 years.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at Sault Ste Marie, ON. Changes to controlled airspace are necessary to coincide with the Canadian control zone over Sault Ste Marie Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to all Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC) PW118, PW118A, PW118B, PW119B, PW119C, PW120, PW120A, PW121, PW121A, PW123, PW123B, PW123C, PW123D, PW123E, PW123AF, PW124B, PW125B, PW126A, PW127, PW127E, PW127F, PW127G, and PW127M turboprop engines. The existing AD currently requires initial and repetitive inspections of certain serial numbers (S/Ns) of propeller shafts for cracks and removal from service if found cracked. Since we issued that AD, we determined the need to add a mandatory terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This proposed AD would require initial and repetitive inspections of certain S/Ns of propeller shafts for cracks and removal from service if found cracked, and would require removal from service of affected propeller shafts as mandatory terminating action to the repetitive inspections. We are proposing this AD to detect propeller shaft cracks, which could cause failure of the shaft, propeller release, and loss of control of the airplane.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce plc (RR) RB211-Trent 800 series turbofan engines. This AD requires removing from service certain intermediate pressure (IP) turbine discs that have a serial number listed in this AD. This AD was prompted by RR performing an evaluation that determined that the current lives for certain IP turbine discs with a steel inclusion may fail before they reach their current mandatory life limits. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the IP turbine disc, which could result in uncontained failure of the engine and damage to the airplane.