Federal Aviation Administration March 4, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is replacing Special Federal Aviation Regulation 100-1 (SFAR 100-1), with SFAR 100-2 that continues to allow Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs) to accept expired flight instructor certificates and inspection authorizations for renewals from U.S. military and civilian personnel (U.S. personnel) who are assigned outside the United States in support of U.S. Armed Forces operations. SFAR 100-2 also continues to allow FSDOs to accept expired airman written test reports for certain practical tests from U.S. personnel who are assigned outside the United States in support of U.S. Armed Forces operations. This action is necessary to avoid penalizing U.S. personnel who are unable to meet the regulatory time limits of their flight instructor certificate, inspection authorization, or airman written test report because they are serving outside the United States in support of U.S. Armed Forces operations. The effect of this action is to give U.S. personnel who are assigned outside the United States in support of U.S. Armed Forces operations extra time to meet certain eligibility requirements in the current rules.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above that would supersede an existing AD. 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 for EMBRAER Model ERJ 170 describes the unsafe condition as: It has been found the occurrence of an engine in-flight shutdown caused by the LPCV [low pressure check valves] failing to close due to excessive wear, which leads to the concern that such fault may be present in both engines of a given aircraft. The MCAI for EMBRAER Model ERJ 190 describes the unsafe condition as: An occurrence of an uncommanded engine in-flight shutdown (IFSD) was reported, which was caused by an ERJ 170 defective LPCV. The valve failed to close due to excessive wear. Despite there were no IFSD related to LPCV failure, some ERJ 190 valves were inspected and presented cracks due to low cycle fatigue. Since this failure mode also might lead to an engine in-flight shutdown and since both engines of the airplane have the same valves, there is a possibility of an occurrence of a dual engine IFSD due to LPCV failure.

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: It has been evidenced by test that the tightening torque settings on the Rolls Royce Trent 500 and Trent 700 forward (FWD) and aft (AFT) engine mount link pin retention bolts have always been higher than the design value. These bolts retain the washers that maintain the engine mount vertical load pins in position. If bolts, as a consequence of the over-torque, fail and move away, it would lead to loss of the vertical load pins, which could result in loss of the primary and/or secondary load path of the forward and/or aft engine mount which could potentially lead to engine separation.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that it is seeking to identify additional qualified industry consultants to assist 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 91; 121, 125, 129, 135 operators as they pursue approval to conduct Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization Required (SAAAR) approaches. Provisions for gaining those approvals are contained within FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 90-101, Approval Guidance for RNP Procedures with SAAAR. Applicants who meet certain qualifications will be permitted to enter into an agreement with the FAA to be listed as RNP SAAAR Approval Consultants.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model DHC-8-100 and DHC-8-200 series airplanes, and DHC-8-301, -311, and -315 airplanes. This AD requires implementing a corrosion prevention and control program (CPCP) either by accomplishing specific tasks or by revising the maintenance inspection program to include a CPCP. This AD results from the determination that, as airplanes age, they are more likely to exhibit indications of corrosion. We are issuing this AD to prevent structural failure of the airplane due to corrosion.