Federal Aviation Administration March 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all General Electric Company (GE) GEnx turbofan engine models. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of GEnx-1B and GEnx-2B engines experiencing power loss in ice crystal icing (ICI) conditions. This proposed AD would preclude the use of full authority digital engine control (FADEC) software, version B175 or earlier, in GEnx-1B engines, and the use of FADEC software, version C065 or earlier, in GEnx-2B engines. We are proposing this AD to prevent engine failure, loss of thrust control, and damage to the airplane.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-22- 20, for certain Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, and A340-300 series airplanes. AD 2008-22-20 currently requires repetitive high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspections for cracking, repair if necessary, and modification of the upper shell structure of the fuselage. Since we issued AD 2008-22-20, we have determined from a fatigue and damage tolerance evaluation that the compliance times must be reduced. This proposed AD would shorten certain compliance times. We are proposing this AD to prevent fatigue cracking of the upper shell structure of the fuselage, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the airplane.

Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 5 U.S.C. App. 2), notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). The meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20594. This will be the 61st meeting of the COMSTAC. The proposed schedule for the COMSTAC working group meetings on April 1 is below:

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) Model 407 helicopters. This AD requires inspecting the aft fuselage upper skin (upper skin) for a crack and the upper left longeron assembly (longeron assembly) for a crack, corrosion, or defect. This AD requires replacing or repairing a part or section, depending on the inspection's outcome. This AD was prompted by reports of cracks in the upper left-hand longeron. This AD's actions are intended to prevent failure of the longeron assembly or the upper skin, which could lead to a structural failure and loss of helicopter control.

This action establishes Class E airspace at the Rogue Valley VHF Omni-Directional Radio Range Tactical Air Navigation Aid (VORTAC), Rogue Valley, OR, to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Seattle and Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). This action enhances the safety and management of IFR operations within the National Airspace System (NAS).

This action establishes Class E airspace and modifies Class D and Class E surface area airspace at Prescott, AZ, to accommodate aircraft departing and arriving under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) at Ernest A. Love Field. New Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) standard instrument approach procedures have made this action necessary for the safety and management of IFR operations at the airport. The geographic coordinates of the airport are adjusted in the respective Class D and Class E airspace areas. This also corrects the airport name to Ernest A. Love Field.

This action establishes Class E airspace at the Hazen VHF Omni-Directional Radio Range Tactical Air Navigation Aid (VORTAC), Hazen, NV, to facilitate vectoring of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) aircraft under control of Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). This action enhances the safety and management of IFR operations within the National Airspace System (NAS).

This action establishes Class E Airspace at North Adams, MA, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) serving Harriman- and-West Airport. This action enhances the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPs within the National Airspace System.

This action proposes to establish Class D and Class E surface area airspace and Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Aurora State Airport, Aurora, OR, to accommodate a new air traffic control tower. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) at the airport.

This Notice extends the planned revocation date of Technical Standard Order (TSO) authorization for the production of Underwater Locating Devices (ULD) (Acoustic) (Self-Powered) manufactured to TSO- C121 and TSO C-121a specifications. This action is necessary to facilitate an efficient transition to UDLs with a 90-day minimum battery operating life manufactured to the TSO-C121b specifications.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the twenty eighth meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS).

This action extends the comment period for a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on January 8, 2015. In the NPRM, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the FAA proposed to replace the Orders limiting scheduled operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and limiting scheduled and unscheduled operations at LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The Orders are scheduled to expire when the rulemaking is final and in effect, but not later than October 29, 2016. The proposed rule is intended to provide a longer-term and comprehensive approach to slot management at JFK, EWR, and LGA. The FAA has also placed further information in support of the proposal in the docket for this rulemaking. Finally, this document responds to a request for a public meeting regarding this rulemaking.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace at Eufaula, AL as the Eufaula VORTAC has been decommissioned, requiring airspace redesign at Weedon Field Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace at Ashland, VA as new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures have been developed at Hanover County Municipal Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. This action also would update the geographic coordinates of airport.

We are revising an earlier proposed Airworthiness Directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A330 series airplanes. The NPRM proposed to require revising the maintenance program or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate certain maintenance requirements and airworthiness limitations. The NPRM was prompted by a determination that more restrictive maintenance requirements and airworthiness limitations are necessary. This action revises the NPRM by proposing to supersede AD 2007-05-12, AD 2009-18-20, and AD 2010-15-02 in addition to those ADs already identified in the NPRM, as well as to require more restrictive limitations and to add Airbus Model A330-323 airplanes to the applicability. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM (SNPRM) to address the aging effects of aircraft systems. Such aging effects could change the characteristics of those systems, which, in isolation or in combination with one or more other specific failures or events, could result in failure of certain life limited parts, which could reduce the structural integrity of the airplane or reduce the controllability of the airplane. Since these actions impose an additional burden over those proposed in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

The FAA proposes to rule and invite public comment on the release of land at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport under the provisions of Section 125 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21), now 49 U.S.C. 47107(h)(2).

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Program Management Committee.

These special conditions are issued for the Bombardier Aerospace Models BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. This design feature is a nitrogen generation system (NGS) for all fuel tanks that actively reduces flammability exposure within the fuel tanks significantly below that required by the fuel tank flammability regulations. Among other benefits, the NGS significantly reduces the potential for fuel vapor ignition caused by lightning strikes. 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.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A318, A319, and A320 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a cracked upper cardan in the main landing gear (MLG). This proposed AD would require revising the maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to reduce the life limits for the MLG upper cardan for certain installations. We are proposing this AD to prevent failure of the upper cardan in the MLG, which could result in MLG collapse and subsequent damage to the airplane and injury to occupants.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends the maintenance regulations for domestic, flag, and supplemental operations, and for commuter and on-demand operations for aircraft type certificated with a passenger seating configuration of 10 seats or more (excluding any pilot seat). The new rules require affected air carriers and operators to develop policies, procedures, methods, and instructions for performing contract maintenance that are acceptable to the FAA, and to include them in their maintenance manuals. The rules also require the air carriers and operators to provide a list to the FAA of all persons with whom they contract their maintenance. These changes are needed because contract maintenance has increased to over 70 percent of all air carrier maintenance, and numerous investigations have shown deficiencies in maintenance performed by contract maintenance providers. These rules will help ensure consistency between contract and in-house air carrier maintenance and enhance the oversight capabilities of both the air carriers and the FAA.

These special conditions are issued for the Cessna Aircraft Company, Model 650, Citation VII Airplane. This airplane as modified by Universal Avionics Systems Corporation will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. This design feature is for the installation of Universal Avionics InSightTM Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Engine Interface Units (EIU), UNS-1Fw Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Flight Management System (FMS), and Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) Class A, which will use rechargeable lithium batteries and battery systems. 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.

This action removes restricted area R-2936, West Palm Beach, FL. The using agency informed the FAA they no longer have a requirement for this area; therefore, the airspace is being returned to the National Airspace System (NAS).

This action corrects a final rule; technical amendment, published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2014, that made minor adjustments to the boundary descriptions of restricted areas R-2932, R- 2933, R-2934 and R-2935 at Cape Canaveral, FL. Due to a submission error, one latitude/longitude point was omitted from the description of restricted area R-2935, Cape Canaveral, FL. This action corrects the boundary description of R-2935 by adding the missing point.

This policy statement updates and clarifies how the FAA determines when datalink communications must be recorded as a function of the cockpit voice recorder operational regulations. This policy update eliminates unneeded limitations in current policy, and restates the FAA's intent that the requirement function as a performance-based regulation.