Federal Aviation Administration November 26, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Program Management Committee.

This action proposes to establish Class E Airspace at West Creek, NJ, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) serving Eagles Nest Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System.

This action proposes to establish Class E Airspace at North Adams, MA, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) serving Harriman-and-West Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce plc (RR) RB211 Trent 875-17, 877-17, 884-17, 884B-17, 892-17, 892B-17, and 895-17 turbofan engines. The NPRM proposed to require modification of the engine by removing any electronic engine control (EEC) that incorporates EEC software standard prior to version B7.2 and installing an EEC eligible for installation. The NPRM was prompted by failure of the intermediate pressure (IP) turbine disk drive arm and subsequent overspeed and burst of the IP turbine disk on an RR RB211 Trent turbofan engine. This action revises the NPRM by clarifying the costs of compliance, by clarifying that correction of the unsafe condition can be achieved either by installing upgraded software in the EEC or by installing an EEC with upgraded software incorporated, and by clarifying the installation prohibition statement. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM (SNPRM) to prevent overspeed of the IP turbine disk, resulting in failure of the turbine blades or the IP turbine disk and subsequent uncontained release of the disk and/or turbine blades, which could lead to damage to the engine and damage to the airplane.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2012-06-19 for certain Airbus Model A330-201, -202, -203, -223, -243, -301, -302, - 303, -321, -322, -323, -341, -342, and -343 airplanes; and Model A340- 200 and -300 series airplanes. AD 2012-06-19 required repetitive inspections of the main fitting and sliding tube of the nose landing gear (NLG) for defects, damage, and cracks; and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD requires an inspection of the part number and serial number of the NLG main fitting and NLG sliding tube; for affected parts, this new AD requires a magnetic particle inspection (MPI) for cracks, and flap peening and replacement if necessary. This new AD also requires, for certain parts, additional inspections for damage and cracking. This new AD also adds airplanes to the applicability. This AD was prompted by reports of a cracked main fitting and sliding tube during NLG overhaul. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracks, defects, or damage of the main fitting or sliding tube, which could result in consequent NLG collapse.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2005-13-05, which applied to certain Boeing Model 747-400F series airplanes. AD 2005-13-05 required inspections for cracking of the web, upper chord, and upper chord strap of the upper deck floor beams, and repair of any cracking. AD 2005-13-05 also required a preventive modification of the upper deck floor beams, and repetitive inspections for cracking after accomplishing the modification. This new AD retains these actions and requires a second modification, repetitive inspections for cracking, and repair if necessary. This AD was prompted by a determination that the upper chords of the upper deck floor beams at certain stations are structures that are susceptible to widespread fatigue damage, and that certain airplanes with an initial modification require a second modification for the airplane to meet its limit of validity (LOV). We are issuing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking in certain upper chords of the upper deck floor beam, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the airplane and rapid decompression or reduced controllability of the airplane.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2004-16-01 for certain Airbus Model A330-200 and -300 series airplanes and Model A340- 200 and -300 series airplanes. AD 2004-16-01 required repetitive inspections for cracking of the chromed area of the left and right piston rods for the main landing gear (MLG) retraction actuators, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD requires repetitive draining of any fluid from the retraction actuator piston rod internal volume and sealing of the vent hole; repetitive ultrasonic inspections of the upper end of the piston rods, and corrective actions if necessary; a one-time ultrasonic inspection (longitudinal and circumferential) of the full length of the piston rod, and corrective actions if necessary; and a terminating modification of the left-hand and right-hand MLG retraction actuators. This AD was prompted by reports of the piston rods for the MLG retraction actuators rupturing during flight. We are issuing this AD to prevent cracking of the piston rods for the MLG retraction actuators, which could result in rupture of a piston rod, non-damped extension of the MLG, high loads on the fully extended MLG, and consequent reduced structural integrity of the MLG.