Federal Aviation Administration October 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

By Federal Register notice (See 71 FR 16610; April 3, 2006), the National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), asked interested persons to apply to fill six vacant positions on the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). The vacancies represent general aviation (one vacancy), commercial air tour operators (two vacancies), environmental concerns (two vacancies) and Native American tribes (one vacancy), and invited interested persons to apply to fill the vacancies due to completion (October 9, 2006) of a three-year term appointment. This notice informs the public of the persons selected to fill the vacancies on the NPOAG ARC.

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Bombardier Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires revising the airplane flight manual (AFM) to advise the flightcrew of appropriate procedures to follow in the event that a main landing gear (MLG) fails to extend following a gear-down selection. The existing AD also currently requires repetitive replacement of the left and right MLG uplock assemblies with new assemblies; and an inspection of the left and right MLG uplock rollers for the presence of an inner low friction liner, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD would revise the requirement for replacing the left and right MLG uplock assemblies by allowing replacement with alternative parts. For a certain MLG uplock assembly, this proposed AD would require repetitive inspections of the uplock hatch lower jaw for the presence of a wear groove and replacement with an improved part if necessary. For a certain MLG uplock assembly, this proposed AD also would require repetitive inspections of the uplock roller to ensure that it rotates freely and replacement with a new part if necessary. This proposed AD would allow optional replacement of the left and right MLG uplock assemblies with improved parts, which ends the requirements of the AFM revision and repetitive replacement and inspections. This proposed AD would remove airplanes from the applicability. This proposed AD results from development of a terminating action. We are proposing this AD to ensure that the flightcrew has the procedures necessary to address failure of an MLG to extend following a gear-down selection; and to detect and correct such failure, which could result in a gear-up landing and possible injury to passengers and crew.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the McDonnell Douglas airplanes previously described. This proposed AD would require replacing the control modules of the fire detection systems of the propulsion engines with new, improved control modules. This proposed AD results from a report of broken or severed wiring between engine fire detectors and the fire detection system control module, which caused the fire detection system to become non-functional without flightcrew awareness. We are proposing this AD to prevent unannunciated fire in a propulsion engine, which could cause injury to flightcrew and passengers or loss of the airplane.

The FAA adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Cirrus Design Corporation (CDC) Models SR20 and SR22 airplanes. This AD requires you to check the maintenance records to determine whether the brake caliper piston O-ring seals were replaced at the last annual or 100-hour inspection. If the O-rings were not replaced, this AD requires you to replace the O-ring seals with new seals or replace brake calipers. This AD also requires you to modify the main landing gear wheel fairings to add temperature indicator sticker inspection holes, trim the wheel fairings to prevent them from holding fluids, install temperature indicator stickers on the brake calipers, and insert Revision A6 (with revised preflight walk-around, a limitation on the engine speed used to taxi, and brake inspection/servicing intervals) into the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH). This AD results from several reports of airplanes experiencing brake fires and two airplanes losing directional control. We are issuing this AD to detect, correct, and prevent overheating damage to the brake caliper piston O-ring seals, which could result in leakage of brake hydraulic fluid. Consequently, this could lead to the loss of braking with loss of airplane directional control or brake fire.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 207, Airport Security Access Control Systems.

The FAA published a final rule on August 29, 2006, (71 FR 51382), to address persistent flight delays from overscheduling at O'Hare International Airport (O'Hare). This amendment revises section 93.25, ``Initial assignment of Arrival Authorizations to U.S. and Canadian air carriers for domestic and U.S./Canada transborder service,'' to direct the FAA to assign each U.S. and Canadian conducting scheduled service at O'Hare by January 27, 2007, Arrival Authorizations based on their permanent holdings as of the 7-day period of October 22 through October 28, 2006, as evidenced by the FAA's records. While the FAA is making this rule effective without notice and comment, the FAA invites the public to comment on the amendment. The FAA will consider the comments to see whether the rule should be further modified.