Federal Aviation Administration June 23, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The action amends the expiration date of the final rule requiring pilots flying civil helicopters under Visual Flight Rules to use the New York North Shore Helicopter Route when operating along the north shore of Long Island, New York. The current rule expires on August 6, 2014. The FAA finds it necessary to extend this rule for an additional two years to preserve the current operating environment in order to determine whether the mandatory use of this route should be made permanent. The FAA will conduct notice and comment rulemaking on the permanent use of this route. A limited extension of the current rule provides needed time to conduct the appropriate analysis to assess the rule's impact and proper rulemaking procedures.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 727-100 series airplanes. This AD is intended to complete certain mandated programs intended to support the airplane reaching its limit of validity (LOV) of the engineering data that support the established structural maintenance program. For certain airplanes, this AD requires repetitive inspections for cracking in stringers or frames until modification, and repair if necessary. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking in stringers or frames originating at or near stringer-to-frame attachment fastener holes, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the airplane, and decompression of the cabin.