Federal Aviation Administration March 21, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to Goodrich evacuation systems approved under TSO- C69b and installed on certain Model A330-200 and -300 series airplanes, Model A340-200 and -300 series airplanes, and Model A340-541 and -642 airplanes. The existing AD currently requires inspecting to determine the part number of the pressure relief valves on the affected Goodrich evacuation systems, and corrective action if necessary. Since we issued that AD, we have received reports that during workshop testing, certain pressure relief valves, which were required by the existing AD, did not seal and allowed the pressure in slides/rafts to fall below the minimum raft mode pressure for the unit. This proposed AD would require inspecting to determine the part number of the pressure relief valves on the affected Goodrich evacuation systems and replacing certain pressure relief valves. This proposed AD would also add airplanes to the applicability. We are proposing this AD to prevent loss of pressure in the escape slides/rafts after an emergency evacuation, which could result in inadequate buoyancy to support the raft's passenger capacity during ditching and increase the chance for injury to raft passengers.

This action proposes to amend Class D airspace and Class E airspace at Palmdale, CA, to accommodate aircraft using Instrument Landing System (ILS) Localizer (LOC) standard instrument approach procedures at Palmdale Regional Airport/USAF Plant 42. This action would enhance the safety and management of aircraft operations at Palmdale Regional Airport/USAF Plant 42. This action would also correct the name of the airport.