Federal Aviation Administration March 6, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain BAE SYSTEMS (OPERATIONS) LIMITED Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of a crack found on the left-hand sidewall well on the nose landing gear (NLG). This proposed AD would require performing a repetitive high frequency eddy current inspection of the stiffeners on the left-hand sidewall on the NLG gear bay for cracks, and repair or replace the sidewall if necessary. Replacing the sidewall with a certain sidewall part number constitutes a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct failure of the sidewall, which could result in consequent in-flight rapid decompression of the cabin and injury to the passengers.

This action amends Class E Airspace in the Springfield, TN area. Aydelotte Airport has been abandoned and controlled airspace is no longer needed. Airspace reconfiguration is necessary for the continued safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the Springfield, TN airspace area. This action also makes a minor adjustment to the geographic coordinates of the Springfield Robertson County Airport.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 747-300, 747-400, 747-400D, 747-400F, 747SR, and 747SP series airplanes. This AD requires inspections for scribe lines in affected lap and butt splices, wing-to-body fairing locations, and external repair and cutout reinforcement areas; and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This AD was prompted by reports of scribe lines found at lap joints and butt joints, around external doublers and antennas, and at locations where external decals had been cut. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct scribe lines, which can develop into fatigue cracks in the skin and cause sudden decompression of the airplane.