Federal Aviation Administration August 29, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (ECD) Model BO-105A, BO-105C, BO-105S, BO- 105LS A-1, BO-105LS A-3, MBB-BK 117 A-1, MBB-BK 117 A-3, MBB-BK 117 A- 4, MBB-BK 117 B-1, MBB-BK-117 B-2, and MBB-BK 117 C-1 helicopters to require inspections for corrosion or thread damage to each tail rotor balance weight (weight) and each tail rotor control lever (lever). This proposed AD is prompted by a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD and a Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) AD, both issued based on a report that corrosion was detected on a weight in the area of the attachment thread on a model BO-105 helicopter. The proposed actions are intended to detect corrosion and thread damage in the threaded area of the weight and lever, and to prevent failure of a weight or lever, separation of tail rotor parts, severe vibration, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

This action modifies Class E airspace at Lewistown Municipal Airport, Lewistown, MT. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate aircraft using Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) standard instrument approach procedures at Lewistown Municipal Airport. This improves the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action modifies Class D and Class E airspace at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, Bozeman, MT. This action aligns two Class E airspace areas with the Class D airspace area. This action also updates the airport name to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. This improves the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 757-200, -200CB, and -300 series airplanes. That AD currently requires initial and repetitive inspections of the fuselage skin and bear strap at the forward, upper corner of the L1 entry door cutout for cracking, and repair if necessary. That action also provides an optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This new AD requires additional inspections for airplanes having repairs or preventative modifications installed and inspections for certain other airplanes. This AD also adds airplanes to the applicability. This AD was prompted by reports of additional cracking in the fuselage skin. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking of the fuselage skin and bear strap at the forward upper corner of the L1 entry door cutout, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the L1 entry door, and consequent rapid decompression of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 777-200 and -300 series airplanes equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 engines. This AD was prompted by reports of events related to thermal damage of the thrust reverser (T/ R) inner wall on Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 engines. This AD requires replacing the bleed valve parts and tubing with new parts and tubing on the left and right engines; and installing Aero-Engine database (AEDB) software in the airplane information management system (AIMS) hardware. We are issuing this AD to prevent T/R thermal damage caused by excessive heat downstream of the 8th stage IP8 exhaust ports, which could result in T/R structural failure. This failure could result in large pieces of the T/R or adjacent components departing the airplane. A separated T/R piece could result in a rejected takeoff and cause asymmetric thrust and consequent loss of control of the airplane during reverse thrust operations. Separated components could also cause structural damage to the airplane, damage to other airplanes due to debris left on the runway, or injury to people on the ground.