[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 32 (Friday, February 16, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7566-7568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2639]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2006-26049; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-177-AD; 
Amendment 39-14949; AD 2007-04-17]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; McDonnell Douglas Model DC-10-10, DC-
10-10F, DC-10-15, DC-10-30, and DC-10-30F (KC-10A and KDC-10) 
Airplanes; Model DC-10-40 and DC-10-40F Airplanes Equipped With Pratt & 
Whitney JT9-20 or JT9-20J Engines; and Model MD-10-10F and MD-10-30F 
Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the 
McDonnell Douglas airplanes previously described. This AD requires 
replacing the control modules of the fire detection systems of the 
propulsion engines with new, improved control modules. This AD results 
from a report of broken or severed wiring between engine fire detectors 
and the fire detection system control module, which caused the fire 
detection system to become non-functional without flightcrew awareness. 
We are issuing this AD to prevent unannunciated fire in a propulsion 
engine, which could cause injury to flightcrew and passengers or loss 
of the airplane.

DATES: This AD becomes effective March 23, 2007.
    The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by 
reference of a certain publication listed in the AD as of March 23, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: You may examine the AD docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov or in person at the Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 
Room PL-401, Washington, DC.
    Contact Meggitt Safety Systems, 1915 Voyager Avenue, Simi Valley, 
California 93063, for service information identified in this AD.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel Lee, Aerospace Engineer, 
Propulsion Branch, ANM-140L, FAA, Los Angeles Aircraft Certification 
Office, 3960 Paramount Boulevard, Lakewood, California 90712-4137; 
telephone (562) 627-5262; fax (562) 627-5210.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Examining the Docket

    You may examine the airworthiness directive (AD) docket on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov or in person at the Docket Management 
Facility office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The Docket Management Facility office 
(telephone (800) 647-5227) is located on the plaza level of the Nassif 
Building at the street address stated in the ADDRESSES section.

Discussion

    The FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 
CFR part 39 to include an AD that would apply to all McDonnell Douglas 
Model DC-10-10, DC-10-10F, DC-10-15, DC-10-30, and DC-10-30F (KC-10A 
and KDC-10) airplanes; Model DC-10-40 and DC-10-40F airplanes equipped 
with Pratt & Whitney JT9-20 or JT9-20J engines; and all Model MD-10-10F 
and MD-10-30F airplanes. That NPRM was published in the Federal 
Register on October 13, 2006 (71 FR 60448). That NPRM proposed to 
require replacing the control modules of the fire detection systems of 
the propulsion engines with new, improved control modules.

Comments

    We provided the public the opportunity to participate in the 
development of this AD. We have considered the comments received.

Support for the NPRM

    FedEx concurs with the NPRM as written and states its intent to 
also modify the fire detection systems of the auxiliary power units of 
subject FedEx airplanes, as described in the service information 
mandated by the AD.

Request To Clarify Service Information Requirement

    Hawaiian Airlines requests that we revise the NPRM to clarify what 
service information is acceptable for compliance with the AD. The 
commenter asserts that the NPRM states that the use of Meggitt Safety 
Systems Service Bulletin 26-34, Revision 2,

[[Page 7567]]

dated August 15, 2006, is acceptable for compliance. However, the 
commenter states that, according to Revision 1 and Revision 2 of the 
service bulletin, no further work is required. Therefore, the commenter 
inquires whether compliance with the original issue or Revision 1 of 
the service information will be acceptable.
    We partially agree. Although we can find no statement in Service 
Bulletin 26-34, Revision 1, dated July 17, 2006 (which is the original 
issue); or Revision 2; that no further work is required, we have 
confirmed that Revision 1 and Revision 2 are technically identical and 
differ only in issues of format and style. Therefore, we have added new 
paragraph (g) to the AD to specify that actions accomplished before the 
effective date of the AD in accordance with Revision 1 of Service 
Bulletin 26-34 are acceptable for compliance with the requirements of 
the AD. We have re-identified subsequent paragraphs of the AD 
accordingly.

Request To Include Statement of Intent To Incorporate by Reference

    The Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA) requests 
that, during the NPRM stage of AD rulemaking, the FAA state its intent 
to incorporate by reference (IBR) any relevant service information. 
MARPA states that without such a statement in the NPRM, it is unclear 
whether the relevant service information will be incorporated by 
reference in the final rule.
    We do not concur with the commenter's request. When we reference 
certain service information in a proposed AD, the public can assume we 
intend to IBR that service information, as required by the Office of 
the Federal Register. No change to the AD is necessary in regard to the 
commenter's request.

Request To Post IBR Documents on the Docket Management System (DMS)

    MARPA asserts that IBR documents should be made available to the 
public by publication in the DMS, keyed to the action that incorporates 
them. MARPA therefore requests that such documents be published in the 
DMS prior to release of the final rule.
    We do not agree with this request. We are currently in the process 
of reviewing issues surrounding the posting of service bulletins on the 
DMS as part of an AD docket. Once we have thoroughly examined all 
aspects of this issue and have made a final determination, we will 
consider whether our current practice needs to be revised. No change to 
the AD is necessary in this regard.

Conclusion

    We have carefully reviewed the available data, including the 
comments received, and determined that air safety and the public 
interest require adopting the AD with the changes described previously. 
We have determined that these changes will neither increase the 
economic burden on any operator nor increase the scope of the AD.

Costs of Compliance

    There are about 305 airplanes of the affected design in the 
worldwide fleet. This AD affects about 233 airplanes of U.S. registry. 
The required actions take about 6 work hours per airplane, at an 
average labor rate of $80 per work hour. Required parts cost about 
$9,900 per airplane. Based on these figures, the estimated cost of the 
AD for U.S. operators is $2,418,540, or $10,380 per airplane.

Authority for This Rulemaking

    Title 49 of the United States Code specifies the FAA's authority to 
issue rules on aviation safety. Subtitle I, Section 106, describes the 
authority of the FAA Administrator. Subtitle VII, Aviation Programs, 
describes in more detail the scope of the Agency's authority.
    We are issuing this rulemaking under the authority described in 
Subtitle VII, Part A, Subpart III, Section 44701, ``General 
requirements.'' Under that section, Congress charges the FAA with 
promoting safe flight of civil aircraft in air commerce by prescribing 
regulations for practices, methods, and procedures the Administrator 
finds necessary for safety in air commerce. This regulation is within 
the scope of that authority because it addresses an unsafe condition 
that is likely to exist or develop on products identified in this 
rulemaking action.

Regulatory Findings

    We have determined that this AD will not have federalism 
implications under Executive Order 13132. This AD will not have a 
substantial direct effect on the States, on the relationship between 
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
    For the reasons discussed above, I certify that this AD:
    (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive 
Order 12866;
    (2) Is not a ``significant rule'' under DOT Regulatory Policies and 
Procedures (44 FR 11034, February 26, 1979); and
    (3) Will not have a significant economic impact, positive or 
negative, on a substantial number of small entities under the criteria 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    We prepared a regulatory evaluation of the estimated costs to 
comply with this AD and placed it in the AD docket. See the ADDRESSES 
section for a location to examine the regulatory evaluation.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39

    Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Incorporation by 
reference, Safety.

Adoption of the Amendment

0
Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, 
the FAA amends 14 CFR part 39 as follows:

PART 39--AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES

0
1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701.


Sec.  39.13  [Amended]

0
2. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends Sec.  39.13 by 
adding the following new airworthiness directive (AD):

2007-04-17 McDonnell Douglas: Amendment 39-14949. Docket No. FAA-
2006-26049; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-177-AD.

Effective Date

    (a) This AD becomes effective March 23, 2007.

Affected ADs

    (b) None.

Applicability

    (c) This AD applies to McDonnell Douglas airplanes, certificated 
in any category; as specified in paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(2), and 
(c)(3) of this AD.
    (1) All Model DC-10-10, DC-10-10F, DC-10-15, DC-10-30, and DC-
10-30F (KC-10A and KDC-10) airplanes;
    (2) Model DC-10-40 and DC-10-40F airplanes equipped with Pratt & 
Whitney JT9-20 or JT9-20J engines; and
    (3) All Model MD-10-10F and MD-10-30F airplanes.

Unsafe Condition

    (d) This AD results from a report of broken or severed wiring 
between engine fire detectors and the fire detection system control 
module, which caused the fire detection system to become non-
functional without flightcrew awareness. We are issuing this AD to 
prevent unannunciated fire in a propulsion engine, which could cause 
injury to flightcrew and passengers or loss of the airplane.

Compliance

    (e) You are responsible for having the actions required by this 
AD performed within the compliance times specified, unless the 
actions have already been done.

[[Page 7568]]

Control Module Replacement

    (f) Within 60 months after the effective date of this AD, 
replace the control modules of the fire detection systems of the 
propulsion engines with new, improved control modules, in accordance 
with paragraph 2., ``Main Engine Control Module Replacement 
Instructions,'' of Meggitt Safety Systems Service Bulletin 26-34, 
Revision 2, dated August 15, 2006.

Credit for Previous Revisions of Service Bulletins

    (g) Actions done before the effective date of this AD in 
accordance with Meggitt Safety Systems Service Bulletin 26-34, 
Revision 1, dated July 17, 2006, are acceptable for compliance with 
the corresponding actions required by paragraph (f) of this AD.

Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)

    (h)(1) The Manager, Los Angeles Aircraft Certification Office, 
FAA, has the authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if requested in 
accordance with the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19.
    (2) Before using any AMOC approved in accordance with Sec.  
39.19 on any airplane to which the AMOC applies, notify the 
appropriate principal inspector in the FAA Flight Standards 
Certificate Holding District Office.

Material Incorporated by Reference

    (i) You must use Meggitt Safety Systems Service Bulletin 26-34, 
Revision 2, dated August 15, 2006, to perform the actions that are 
required by this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. Meggitt 
Safety Systems Service Bulletin 26-34, Revision 2, dated August 15, 
2006, contains the following effective pages:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Revision
                                   level
          Page number             shown on       Date shown on page
                                    page
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-26...........................          2  August 15, 2006.
27-61..........................          1  July 17, 2006.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation 
by reference of this document in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 
1 CFR part 51. Contact Meggitt Safety Systems, 1915 Voyager Avenue, 
Simi Valley, California 93063, for a copy of this service 
information. You may review copies at the FAA, Transport Airplane 
Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington; or at the 
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information 
on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or 
go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on February 8, 2007.
Ali Bahrami,
Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-2639 Filed 2-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P