Federal Aviation Administration October 12, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain General Electric Company (GE) GEnx-1B and GEnx-2B model turbofan engines. This AD was prompted by the detection of melt-related freckles in the forgings and billets, which may reduce the life of certain compressor discharge pressure (CDP) seals, interstage seals, high-pressure turbine (HPT) rotor stage 2 disks, and stages 6-10 compressor rotor spools. This AD requires revising the airworthiness limitations section (ALS) of the applicable GEnx-1B and GEnx-2B Engine Manual (EM) and the operator's existing approved maintenance program or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate reduced life limits for these parts. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This action arises out of a statutory mandate in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which requires rulemaking to increase the minimum rest period for flight attendants in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations who are scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less. The statute also requires rulemaking to prohibit reduction of the rest period under any circumstances. Consistent with the statutory mandate, the FAA is amending its regulations to ensure that flight attendants scheduled to a duty period of 14 hours or less are given a scheduled rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours and that the rest period is not reduced under any circumstances.