Federal Aviation Administration February 24, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes to establish Class D airspace and modify existing Class E airspace at Columbus Metropolitan Airport, Columbus, GA. A decrease in air traffic volume at the airport has made it necessary to downgrade controlled airspace for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations.

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revision of a current information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on October 16, 2009, vol. 74, no. 199, pages 53316-53317. Title 49, United States Code, Section 44702 authorizes the appointment of appropriately qualified persons to be representatives of the Administrator to allow those persons to examine, test and certify other persons for the purpose of issuing them pilot and instructor certificates.

The FAA is revising an earlier NPRM for an airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Model 747 airplanes. The original NPRM would have superseded an existing AD that currently requires repetitive inspections of the body station (BS) 2598 bulkhead, and corrective actions if necessary. The existing AD also currently requires a terminating modification for the repetitive inspections and a post-modification inspection of the modified area. The original NPRM proposed to continue to require those actions using revised service information. For certain airplanes, the original NPRM proposed to require new repetitive inspections, an interim modification, and post- interim modification inspections. For certain airplanes, the original NPRM also proposed to require replacing any previously repaired aft inner chord and reinstalling the terminating modification. The original NPRM resulted from reports of cracked aft inner chords on airplanes after certain requirements of the existing AD were done. This new action revises the original NPRM for airplanes that are converted to the Model 747-400 large cargo freighter (LCF) configuration by reducing the threshold and repeat intervals of certain post-modification inspections. This new action also revises the original NPRM for all airplanes by proposing that certain inspections of the upper aft outer chords and diagonal brace attachment fittings, flanges, and rods continue after the terminating modification. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM to prevent fatigue cracking of the BS 2598 bulkhead structure, which could result in inability of the structure to carry horizontal stabilizer flight loads, and loss of controllability 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.