Federal Aviation Administration December 31, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 99-01-05 R1, which applies to certain aircraft equipped with wing lift struts. AD 99-01-05 R1 currently requires repetitively inspecting the wing lift struts for corrosion; repetitively inspecting the wing lift strut forks for cracks; replacing any corroded wing lift strut; replacing any cracked wing lift strut fork; and repetitively replacing the wing lift strut forks at a specified time for certain airplanes. Since we issued AD 99-01-05 R1, we have determined that additional airplane models should be added to the Applicability section. This proposed AD would retain all requirements of the existing AD. We are proposing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

These special conditions are issued for the Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH Model MBB-BK117 D-2 helicopter. This model helicopter will have the novel or unusual design feature of a 30-minute power rating, generally intended to be used for hovering at increased power for search and rescue missions. 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.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the sixty second meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 186, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B).