Department of Transportation November 14, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is to advise interested persons that PHMSA and OSHA will conduct a joint public meeting in preparation for United Nations meetings being held in Geneva, Switzerland. PHMSA is hosting the morning portion of the meeting to discuss proposals in preparation for the 44th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG) to be held November 25 to December 4, 2013, in Geneva. During this meeting, PHMSA is also soliciting comments relative to potential new work items which may be considered for inclusion in its international agenda. OSHA is hosting the afternoon portion of the meeting to discuss proposals in preparation for the 26th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UNSCEGHS) to be held December 4 to 6, 2013, in Geneva. OSHA, along with the U.S. Interagency GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals) Coordinating Group, plans to consider the comments and information gathered at this public meeting when developing the U.S. Government positions for the UNSCEGHS meeting.

The FAA is correcting an airworthiness directive (AD) that published in the Federal Register. That AD applies to all Rolls-Royce plc (RR) RB211-535E4-B-37 series turbofan engines. The AD number is incorrect in the Regulatory text. This document corrects that error. In all other respects, the original document remains the same.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 747-300, 747-400, 747-400D, 747-400F, and 747SR series airplanes. This AD requires inspecting to determine the part number of the inboard actuator attach fittings of the outboard flap. For affected attach fittings, this AD requires doing a detailed inspection of the attach fittings for a cylindrical defect and replacing if necessary. As an option to the detailed inspection, this AD allows replacement of affected attach fittings. This AD was prompted by a report of the fracture of an inboard actuator attach fitting of the outboard flap. An inspection of the attach fitting revealed that it was incorrectly machined with a cylindrical profile instead of a conical profile, resulting in reduced wall thickness. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct defective inboard actuator attach fittings which, combined with loss of the outboard actuator load path, could result in uncontrolled retraction of the outboard flap, damage to flight control systems, and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directives (ADs) 2009-04-07 and 2011-02-09 for certain Airbus Model A330-200, A330-200 Freighter, A300-300, A340-200, A340- 300, A340-500, and A340-600 series airplanes. AD 2009-04-07 required revising the airplane flight manual (AFM) to include appropriate operational procedures to prevent the air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU) from providing erroneous data to other airplane systems. AD 2011-02-09 required revising the AFM to provide appropriate operational procedures to prevent the airplane flight directors (FDs), autopilot (AP), and auto-thrust re-engagement in the event of airspeed sources providing similar but erroneous data. This new AD requires that operators modify or replace all three flight control primary computers (FCPCs) with new software standards. Since we issued ADs 2009-04-07 and 2011-02-09, we have determined that new software standards for the FCPCs are necessary to inhibit autopilot re-engagement under unreliable airspeed conditions. This new AD also removes certain airplanes from the applicability. We are issuing this AD to prevent autopilot engagement under unreliable airspeed conditions, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane.