Federal Aviation Administration December 12, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at the Maxwell VHF Omni-Directional Radio Range Tactical Air Navigation Aid (VORTAC), Maxwell, CA, to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The FAA is proposing this action to enhance the safety and management of aircraft operations within the National Airspace System.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-100, -200, -200C, -300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports from multiple operators that have found fatigue cracking in the corners of the forward galley service doorway. This AD requires repetitive inspections for any cracking of the skin and bear strap doublers in the corners of the forward galley service doorway, and corrective action if necessary. This AD also provides optional terminating actions for certain repetitive inspections. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking, which could result in rapid loss of cabin pressure.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2010-13-04 for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. AD 2010-13- 04 required modifying the nose landing gear (NLG) trailing arm. This new AD requires installing a new pivot pin retention mechanism. This new AD also adds airplanes to the applicability. This AD was prompted by a report of several missing or damaged pivot pin retention bolts. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the pivot pin retention bolt, which could result in a loss of directional control or loss of a NLG tire during take-off or landing.

We are revising Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-14-02 for Agusta Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters. AD 2008-14-02 required inspecting the fuselage frame to detect fatigue cracks which could lead to structural failure and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. Since we issued AD 2008-14-02, Agusta developed a frame reinforcement modification, which supports extending the interval for inspecting the fuselage frame for a fatigue crack. This new AD requires inspecting the fuselage frame for a crack and reduces the applicability from AD 2008- 14-02 to exclude helicopters with the frame reinforcement modification. The actions of this AD are intended to detect a fatigue crack that could result in failure of the fuselage frame and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.