Federal Aviation Administration May 20, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

These special conditions are issued for the transport category airplanes listed in Table 1. These airplanes, as modified by AmSafe, Inc., will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the lap belt or shoulder harness portion of the safety belt that contains an integrated inflatable airbag installed on passenger seats. 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.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing Model 757-200 and -200PF series airplanes; and Model 767-200 and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require doing an inspection to determine the part number and serial number of the hub assembly of the ram air turbine (RAT), and replacing the hub assembly of the RAT with a new, serviceable, or reworked and re-identified hub assembly if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports indicating that the counterweights in some hub assemblies of the RATs could be under strength and fracture when they are extended in flight. We are proposing this AD to prevent a fractured counterweight on the hub assembly of the RAT, which will cause an overspeed condition, and consequent turbine blade separation, possible injury to passengers, possible airplane structural damage, and an inoperative RAT. An inoperative RAT will cause the loss of hydraulic power to the primary flight controls in cases where both engines are shut down in flight, resulting in subsequent loss of control of the airplane.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as: