Department of Transportation May 22, 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Current FAA regulations require that foreign applicants for operating specifications must hold a valid air operator certificate issued by the State of the Operator. Some International Civil Aviation Organization Contracting States have joined together to form Regional Safety Oversight Organizations. These organizations may provide a uniform regulatory structure for safety oversight and provide technical assistance and the execution of safety oversight functions on behalf of their member States. Regional Safety Oversight Organizations have been established in many parts of the world. These organizations may be formed based on a variety of differing arrangements among member States. The institutional structures of these organizations range from highly formalized intergovernmental organizations established on the basis of formal legal agreements, to less formalized organizations established under the International Civil Aviation Organization Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Program. States participating in Regional Safety Oversight Organizations may delegate various functions or tasks to these organizations based on the extent of delegated legal authority stipulated in the Regional Safety Oversight Organization's formation documentation. One of the functions member States may delegate to some of the highly formalized and more fully resourced Regional Safety Oversight Organizations is the issuance of air operator certificates on behalf of the State of the Operator. This regulation change would allow the FAA to review and, if acceptable to the Administrator, recognize as valid air operator certificates issued by the Regional Safety Oversight Organization to foreign air carriers on behalf of the State of the Operator for purposes of evaluating foreign applicants for operating specifications.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper) Model PA-28-181, PA-28R-201, PA- 34-220T, and PA-44-180 airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of a double-drilled bolt hole of the rear wing spar attachment fitting found during an unscheduled inspection of an airplane due to a ground collision with an automobile. This AD requires inspecting the rear wing spar attachment fitting and, if discrepancies are found, inspecting the forward wing spar attachment fitting, accomplishing corrective actions as required, and reporting to the FAA when corrective actions are required. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2009-25-13, which applies to certain Bombardier, Inc., Model BD-100- 1A10 (Challenger 300) airplanes. AD 2009-25-13 requires the deactivation of the left-hand (LH) baggage bay heater mat. Since the FAA issued AD 2009-25-13, Bombardier developed a new design solution for the potential uncontrolled heating of the baggage bay sidewall heater mat. This proposed AD would retain the requirements of AD 2009- 25-13, and would also require modifying the baggage bay sidewall interior panel, heater mat, and water tank heater installation, and doing functional testing. Upon the completion of the new actions, the retained requirements of AD 2009-25-13 would terminate. This proposed AD would also revise the applicability and prohibit the installation of affected parts. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

These special conditions are issued for the Textron Aviation, Inc. (Textron) 550 (Bravo), 560 (Ultra Encore), and 560XL (Excel) series airplanes as modified by Aerospace Design & Compliance, LLC (ADC). This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. This design feature is the installation of an electronic networks system architecture that will allow increased connectivity to and access from external network sources to the airplane's previously isolated electronic assets (networks, systems, and databases). The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

This action proposes special conditions for the Bell Model 525 helicopter. This helicopter will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category helicopters. This design feature is a four-axis full authority digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system (FCS) that provides for aircraft control through pilot input or coupled auto pilot modes. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.