Federal Aviation Administration October 6, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the ninety-fourth Special Committee 159 meeting.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the sixteenth Special Committee 227 meeting.

The FAA is proposing to establish a Special Flight Rules Area in the vicinity of Pearson Field Airport, Vancouver, Washington. Pearson Field Airport is located approximately three nautical miles northwest of Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon. The close proximity of the airport traffic patterns and approach courses create converging flight paths between traffic on approach to Portland International Airport and traffic at Pearson Field Airport, increasing the risk for near mid-air collision, mid-air collision and wake turbulence events. The intended effect of this action is to mitigate the identified risk by establishing operating requirements applicable to all aircraft when operating within a designated area at Pearson Field Airport, which would increase overall system efficiency and safety.

This action modifies Class D airspace, Class E surface area airspace, and Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface, at Stockton Metropolitan Airport, Stockton, CA. A review of the airspace and the decommissioning of the Manteca VHF omnidirectional radio range and distance measuring equipment (VOR/DME), has made it necessary to amend the airspace areas for the safety and management of the new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747- 200B, 747-300, 747SR, and 747SP series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by an evaluation by the design approval holder (DAH) indicating that the upper chords of the upper deck floor beams are subject to widespread fatigue damage (WFD). This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections for cracks at the floor panel attachment fastener holes; repetitive inspections for cracks in the upper and lower chords of the upper deck floor beams at permanent fastener locations; repetitive inspections for cracks in certain repaired and modified areas; and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD would also require repetitive replacement of the upper chords of the upper deck floor beams, including pre- replacement inspections and corrective action if necessary; and post- replacement repetitive inspections and repair if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the upper chords of the upper deck floor beams. Undetected cracking could result in large deflection or deformation of the upper deck floor beams, resulting in damage to wire bundles and control cables for the flight control system, and reduced controllability of the airplane. Multiple adjacent severed floor beams could result in rapid decompression of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701, & 702), CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705), and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes. This AD was prompted by a determination that no instructions for continued airworthiness exist for the nose landing gear (NLG) alternate extension actuator of the NLG alternate release system. This AD requires revising the maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate a new airworthiness limitation task for the NLG alternate extension actuator. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the NLG alternate release system and, if the normal NLG extension system also fails, failure of the NLG to extend, and consequent damage to the airplane and injury to occupants.

This action amends Class E airspace at Audubon County Airport, Audubon, IA; Corning Municipal Airport, Corning, IA; Ellen Church Field Airport, Cresco, IA; Eagle Grove Municipal Airport, Eagle Grove, IA; Guthrie County Regional Airport, Guthrie Center, IA; Hampton Municipal Airport, Hampton, IA; Harlan Municipal Airport, Harlan, IA; Iowa Falls Municipal Airport, Iowa Falls, IA; Knoxville Municipal Airport, Knoxville, IA; Oelwein Municipal Airport, Oelwein, IA; and Red Oak Municipal Airport, Red Oak, IA. Decommissioning of the non-directional radio beacons (NDBs) and/or cancellation of NDB approaches due to advances in Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities has made this action necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the above airports.