Federal Aviation Administration January 30, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes to modify the Nashville International Airport, TN, Class C airspace area by removing a cutout from the surface area that was put in place to accommodate operations around an airport that is now permanently closed. The FAA is proposing this action to return the Class C airspace area to the standard configuration and enable more efficient operations at the Nashville International Airport.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace at Griffin, GA, as the Griffin Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) has been decommissioned and new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) have been developed at Griffin-Spalding County Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

This notice announces a public teleconference to share with the public results of recent FAA sponsored testing of nitrous oxide (N2O) characteristics. Nitrous oxide is an important oxidizer to developers of some commercial reusable launch vehicles. A potential hazard in nitrous oxide storage and handling is a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE), which results from a sudden loss of pressure in a tank containing nitrous oxide stored under pressure above its normal boiling point. The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation sponsored tests of liquid-phase nitrous oxide at NASA's White Sands Test Facility to empirically determine the superheat limit temperature for nitrous oxide, and to demonstrate that a BLEVE would not occur if the liquid is maintained at temperatures below this superheat limit temperature. Meeting Information: The teleconference is scheduled for Thursday, February 28, 2013, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The presentation and call-in number will be posted one week in advance at https://www.ast.faa.gov/.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requesting public comment on the Bi-County Board of Commissioners of Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties request to release airport property and granting right-of-way easements for use by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to construct an access roadway and required drainage facilities. The request consists of a permanent release of land (16.037 acres) for the roadway construction, a right-of-way drainage easement (0.2 acre) for the highway, and a right-of-way easement (0.183 acre) for the substitute sewer (supersedes previous easement) for the Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority. The parcel is located in the Borough of DuPont and Pittstown Township, Luzerne County within the existing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport property and consists of three areas. The first area is located southeast of the northbound off ramp (exit 178A) of Interstate 81 near its intersection with Terminal Road (SR 2059) to Navy Way Road then along the Navy Way Road alignment south to the Lidy Road intersection with Gedrich Street containing approximately 8 +/- acres. The second area is located southeast of Laurel Lane and extends southeast under the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport approach light towers and the wooded area to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension containing approximately 8 +/- acres. The third area is located northwest of Campbell Street along Interstate 81 and the pedestrian bridge over Interstate 81 containing approximately 0.26 +/- acres. This release request is for the purpose of permitting the Airport Owner to sell and convey title of 16.037 acres for public roadway, 0.20 acres for a drainage easement associated with the highway and 0.183 acres for a substitute sewer easement displaced due to the public road for a total of 16.42 acres. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport will receive fair market value from the sale of the land. Areas impacted are not needed for aeronautical use for current or foreseeable future aeronautical activities. Documents reflecting the Sponsor's request are available, by appointment only, for inspection at the Airport Managers office and the FAA Harrisburg Airport District Office.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the Seventy Fifth meeting of RTCA Special Committee 147, Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems Airborne Equipment.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. That NPRM proposed to require repetitive operational tests of the engine fuel suction feed of the fuel system, and other related testing if necessary. That NPRM was prompted by reports of two in- service occurrences on Model 737-400 airplanes of total loss of boost pump pressure of the fuel feed system, followed by loss of fuel system suction feed capability on one engine, and in-flight shutdown of the engine. This action revises that NPRM by proposing to require repetitive operational tests, and corrective actions if necessary. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM to detect and correct loss of the engine fuel suction feed capability of the fuel system, which, in the event of total loss of the fuel boost pumps, could result in dual engine flameout, inability to restart the engines, and consequent forced landing of the airplane. Since these actions impose an additional burden over that proposed in the previous NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.

These special conditions are issued for the Airbus Model A318- 112 airplane, serial number (S/N) 3238. This airplane, as modified by Fokker Services B.V., will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with a cooktop installation. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, -900, and -900ER series airplanes. This AD requires, for certain airplanes, installing two warning level indicator lights on each of the P1-3 and P3-1 instrument panels in the flight compartment. This AD also requires, for certain airplanes, replacing the existing P5-16 and P5-10 panels; and, for certain airplanes, replacing the basic P5-16 panel with a high altitude landing P5-16 panel. Additionally, this AD requires revising the airplane flight manual to remove certain requirements of previous AD actions, and to advise the flightcrew of certain changes. This AD was prompted by a design change in the cabin altitude warning system that would address the identified unsafe condition. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the flightcrew to recognize and react to a valid cabin altitude warning horn, which could result in incapacitation of the flightcrew due to hypoxia (a lack of oxygen in the body), and consequent loss of control of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce plc RB211-Trent 970-84, RB211-Trent 970B-84, RB211-Trent 972-84, RB211-Trent 972B-84, RB211-Trent 977-84, RB211-Trent 977B-84 and RB211-Trent 980-84 turbofan engines. This AD requires on-wing inspections of low-pressure turbine (LPT) disk seal fins and interstage seals when post-flight review indicates Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) vibratory maintenance-alert limits were exceeded in flight. The AD also requires in-shop inspections of the LPT disk seal fins and interstage seals to detect cracks or damage and, depending on the findings, accomplishment of corrective action. This AD is prompted by a Trent 900 engine experiencing LPT stage 2 disk interstage seal material loss and increased low-pressure rotor vibration while in flight. We are issuing this AD to prevent cracks in the LPT disk, which could result in uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.