Federal Aviation Administration May 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes to remove Class E surface airspace at Orcas Island Airport, Eastsound, WA. Controlled airspace already exists in the Eastsound, WA, area to accommodate the safety and management of aircraft operations at Orcas Island Airport.

This final rule amends FAA regulations by adding equipage requirements and performance standards for Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast (ADS-B) Out avionics on aircraft operating in Classes A, B, and C airspace, as well as certain other specified classes of airspace within the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). ADS-B Out broadcasts information about an aircraft through an onboard transmitter to a ground receiver. Use of ADS-B Out will move air traffic control from a radar-based system to a satellite-derived aircraft location system. This action facilitates the use of ADS-B for aircraft surveillance by FAA and Department of Defense (DOD) air traffic controllers to safely and efficiently accommodate aircraft operations and the expected increase in demand for air transportation. This rule also provides aircraft operators with a platform for additional flight applications and services.

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) extension 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 March 8, 2010, vol. 75, no. 44, page 10548. The date of manufacture and compliance status stamped on a nameplate of each turbojet engine permits rapid determination by FAA inspectors, owners, and operators whether an engine can legally be installed and operated on an aircraft in the United States.

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) extension 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 March 8, 2010, vol. 75, no. 44, page 10550. This information collection is required for compliance with the final rule that codifies special flight rules and airspace and flight restrictions for certain operations in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. The FAA form number and time per response listed below have been corrected from those reported on the Federal Register notice of March 8, 2010 (75 FR 10550).

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 221: Aircraft Secondary Barriers and Alternative Flight Deck Security Procedures.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 206: EUROCAE WG 76 Plenary: AIS and MET Data Link Services.

This action amends Class E airspace for Batesville, AR. Decommissioning of the Independence County non-directional beacon (NDB) at Batesville Regional Airport, Batesville, AR, has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action amends Class E airspace for Manila, AR. Decommissioning of the Manila non-directional beacon (NDB) at Manila Municipal Airport, Manila, AR has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action amends Class E airspace for Magnolia, AR. Decommissioning of the Magnolia non-directional beacon (NDB) at Magnolia Municipal Airport, Magnolia, AR has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action would permit certain U.S. civil aircraft operations below flight level (FL) 160 within the territory and airspace of Afghanistan, when approved by the FAA as provided herein. Otherwise, flight operations below FL 160 would be prohibited within the territory and airspace of Afghanistan by all U.S. air carriers; U.S. commercial operators; persons exercising the privileges of a U.S. airman certificate, except when that person is operating a U.S.- registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and operators of U.S.-registered aircraft, except when such operators are foreign air carriers. The FAA finds this action necessary to prevent a potential hazard to persons and aircraft engaged in such flight operations.

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.

This action re-opens the comment period on a policy statement published April 5, 2010, related to special issuance of airmen medical certificates to applicants using certain antidepressant medication. The comment period is re-opened for 30 days and responds to a request from the Air Line Pilots Association, International.

This action restructures the special use airspace (SUA) at the Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR), Florida. The changes provide additional restricted airspace needed for training in high altitude weapons releases and other hazardous activities, and reconfigure the military operations areas (MOA) to contain nonhazardous flight operations. These changes will permit realistic training in current tactics to be conducted at the Range and enable more efficient use of the National Airspace System.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS).

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Hawker Beechcraft Corporation Model 390 airplanes. This proposed AD would require inspecting for installation of certain serial number (S/N) starter generators and replacing the starter generator if one with an affected serial number is found. This proposed AD results from reports that starter generators with deficient armature insulating materials may have been installed on certain airplanes. We are proposing this AD to detect and replace starter generators with defective armature insulating materials. This condition could result in the loss of operation of one or both starter generators with consequent loss of all non-battery electrical power.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the Dowty Propellers, propeller models listed above. That AD currently requires, for all Dowty Rotol propellers, visual inspections for seizure and for cadmium plating of the blade pitch change operating links and eyebolt fork assemblies. That AD also requires replacement or heat-treatment of the blade pitch change operating links and eyebolt fork assemblies, if necessary. This AD requires the same actions, but only for certain propeller models. This AD results from the FAA determining that AD 70-16-02 does not apply to all propellers, since current Dowty propellers are differently designed. We are issuing this AD supersedure to specify the affected propeller models, and to prevent seizure or embrittlement and cracking of the blade pitch change operating links and eyebolt fork assemblies, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) Model AS332L2 helicopters. This AD results from a mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) AD issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community. The MCAI AD states that the AD was issued after the discovery of broken swashplate bearing attaching screw heads. Failure of these screw heads could lead to the loss of the coupling between the non-rotating and the rotating swashplate. This AD is intended to prevent loss of power to the rotating swashplate and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to Model BAe 146 airplanes and Model Avro 146-RJ airplanes. That AD currently requires revising the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate life limits for certain items and inspections to detect fatigue cracking in certain structures. This new AD requires incorporating new and more restrictive life limits for certain items and for certain inspections to detect fatigue cracking in certain structures. This AD also requires revising the airworthiness limitations to include critical design configuration control limitations for the fuel system. This AD results from issuance of a later revision to the airworthiness limitations. We are issuing this AD to ensure that fatigue cracking of certain structural elements is detected and corrected, and to prevent ignition sources in the fuel tanks; fatigue cracking of certain structural elements could adversely affect the structural integrity of these airplanes.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of EUROCAE WG-72: RTCA Special Committee 216: Aeronautical Systems Security (Joint Meeting).

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Pratt & Whitney (PW) JT8D-9, -9A, -11, -15, -17, and -17R turbofan engines. This proposed AD would require overhauling fan blade leading edges at the first shop visit after 4,000 cycles-in-service (CIS) since the last total fan blade overhaul was performed. This proposed AD results from reports of failed fan blades. We are proposing this AD to prevent high-cycle fatigue cracking at the blade root, which could result in uncontained failures of first stage fan blades and damage to 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) issued 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: A number of LPT casings have been found cracked during engine shop visit. Cracking of the LPT casing reduces the capability of the casing to contain debris in the event of an LPT stage 1 blade failure. Therefore, blade failure in an engine featuring a cracked LPT casing may result in release of uncontained high energy debris. For the reason described above, this AD requires repetitive inspections and corrective actions, depending on findings. We are proposing this AD to detect cracks in the LPT casings, which could result in the release of uncontained high-energy debris in the event of a stage 1 blade failure. Uncontained high-energy debris could result in damage to the airplane.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model 737-100 and -200 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections for cracking and damaged fasteners of certain fuselage frames and stub beams, and corrective actions if necessary. For certain airplanes, this proposed AD would also require repetitive inspections for cracking of the inboard chord fastener hole of the frame at body station 639, stringer S-16, and corrective actions if necessary. For certain airplanes, this proposed AD would also require an inspection to determine the edge margin of the lower chord. For airplanes with a certain short edge margin, this proposed AD requires repetitive inspections for cracking, and corrective actions if necessary; replacing the lower chord terminates the repetitive inspections. This proposed AD requires an eventual preventive modification. For certain airplanes, doing the modification or a repair would terminate the repetitive inspections for the repaired or modified frame only. For airplanes on which the modification or repair is done at certain body stations, this proposed AD would require repetitive inspections for cracking of certain frame webs and inner and outer chords, and corrective actions if necessary. For certain other airplanes, this proposed AD requires a modification which includes reinforcing the body frame inner chords, replacing the stub beam upper chords and attach angles, and reinforcing the stub beam web. This proposed AD results from reports of fatigue cracks at certain frame sections, in addition to stub beam cracking, caused by high flight cycle stresses from both pressurization and maneuver load. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of certain fuselage frames and stub beams, and possible severed frames, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the frames. This reduced structural integrity can increase loading in the fuselage skin, which will accelerate skin crack growth and result in rapid decompression of the fuselage.

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: Three events have been reported where insulation material was found to be fouling pulleys in the aileron interconnect circuit in the cabin roof area. Interference between the cable and the insulation bag causes the material to be drawn into the gap between the pulley and the pulley guard. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to restricted aileron movement and consequently, reduced control of the aeroplane.