Federal Aviation Administration September 17, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Airbus Model A330, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires repetitive inspections of a certain bracket that attaches the flight deck instrument panel to the airplane structure; related investigative and corrective actions if necessary; and replacement of the existing bracket with a titanium-reinforced bracket, which ends the repetitive inspections in the existing AD. This proposed AD would add requirements only for airplanes on which the existing bracket was replaced with a titanium-reinforced bracket in accordance with the existing AD. The additional requirement is a one-time inspection to determine if certain fasteners are broken or cracked, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from a report that incorrect torque values could damage the bracket. We are proposing this AD to prevent a cracked bracket. Failure of this bracket, combined with failure of the horizontal beam, could result in collapse of the left part of the flight deck instrument panel, and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

The Federal Aviation Administration is requesting public comment on the release of land at the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport in the city of Smyrna, Tennessee. This property, approximately 15.65 acres plus associated buildings, will change to ownership by the Tennessee Air National Guard. This action is taken under the provisions of Section 125 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21 Century (AIR 21).

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (0MB) revision of a current information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on June 19, 2008, vol. 73, no. 119, page 34973. The information is used to determine if licensees have complied with financial responsibility requirements (including maximum probable loss determination) as set forth in FAA regulations.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a first meeting of RTCA Special Committee 213, Standards for Air Traffic Data Communication Services.