Federal Aviation Administration December 20, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document proposes amended special conditions for the ECF model EC225LP helicopter. This helicopter, as modified by ECF, will have novel or unusual design features associated with installing an optional SAR AFCS. Special conditions No. 29-022-SC, published in the Federal Register on November 6, 2008 (73 FR 65968), addressed these issues. The proposed amendment revises the original final special conditions to address comments and to clarify the intent of some requirements. The applicable airworthiness standards do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards the Administrator considers necessary to show a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to the products listed above. The existing AD currently requires replacement of the power control relays in the P91 and P92 power distribution panels for the fuel boost and override pumps with new, improved relays having a ground fault interrupter (GFI) feature, or installation and maintenance of universal fault interrupters (UFIs) using a certain supplemental type certificate. Since we issued that AD, we have determined that we need to clarify which relays may be replaced by installation of UFIs. This proposed AD would continue to require the actions of the existing AD and also specify which relays may be replaced by GFIs or UFIs. We are proposing this AD to prevent pump housing burn-through due to electrical arcing, which could create a potential ignition source inside a fuel tank. This condition, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in a fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.

This action amends Class E airspace at Henderson, KY. The Geneva Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) has been decommissioned and new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) have been developed for Henderson City-County Airport. This action enhances the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.