Federal Aviation Administration May 6, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the 2016 meetings of the Equip 2020 Plenary and Working Groups. Equip 2020 is a joint FAA and Industry group tasked with moving forward significantly on ADS-B Out implementation. Formed as a result of the Call to Action held October 28, 2014, Equip 2020 was given 32 tasks, reflecting barriers to implementation, which forms the basis of our agendas and discussions.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at Slaton, TX. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures developed at Slaton Municipal Airport, for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action proposes to establish Class E en route domestic airspace in the Platte Municipal Airport, Platte, SD area, to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The FAA is proposing this action to enhance the safety and efficiency of aircraft operations within the National Airspace System (NAS).

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes. This AD requires repetitive inspections of the bilge barriers located in the forward and aft cargo compartments for disengaged decompression panels, and reinstalling any disengaged panels. This AD was prompted by several reports of disengaged decompression panels found on in-service airplanes. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct disengaged decompression panels from the bilge barriers located in the forward and aft cargo compartments. In the event of a cargo compartment fire, this condition would provide a path for smoke and Halon to enter the flight compartment and passenger cabin, which could result in the inability to contain and extinguish a fire.

We are superseding airworthiness directive (AD) 2013-08-17 for Airbus Helicopters Model SA-365N, SA-365N1, AS-365N2, AS 365 N3, and SA-366G1 helicopters. AD 2013-08-17 required initial and recurring inspections of the 9-degree fuselage frame for a crack and repairing the frame if a crack exists. This new AD modifies the compliance times and expands the inspection area of the 9-inch frame. The actions of this AD are intended to detect a crack in the 9-degree frame to prevent loss of structural integrity and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2007-10-10 R1 for all Airbus Model A300 B4-600, B4-600R, and F4-600R series airplanes, and Model A300 C4-605R Variant F airplanes (collectively called Model A300-600 series airplanes). AD 2007-10-10 R1 required revising the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate new limitations for fuel tank systems. This new AD requires revising the maintenance program or inspection program to incorporate revised fuel maintenance and inspection tasks. This AD was prompted by issuance of more restrictive maintenance requirements and/or airworthiness limitations by the manufacturer. We are issuing this AD to prevent the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors caused by latent failures, alterations, repairs, or maintenance actions, could result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.