[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 130 (Monday, July 10, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43479-43482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14330]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2023-1222; Project Identifier AD-2023-00574-T]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 
2021-02-15, which applies to certain The Boeing Company Model 747-100, 
747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 747-300, 747-400, 
747-400D, 747-400F, and 747SR series airplanes. AD 2021-02-15 requires 
repetitive replacement of certain parts; an inspection to determine 
production configuration for certain parts; repetitive lubrication of 
certain parts and a repetitive inspection of certain parts for any 
exuding grease; repetitive inspections of certain parts for loose or 
missing attachment bolts, cracks or bushing migration, cracks or 
gouges, or broken, binding, or missing rollers; repetitive inspections 
of certain parts for cracks or corrosion; repetitive lubrication; and 
on-condition actions if necessary. Since the FAA issued AD 2021-02-15, 
the FAA determined that certain compliance times must be reduced in 
order to address the unsafe condition. This proposed AD would continue 
to require the actions specified in AD 2021-02-15 with certain reduced 
compliance times. The FAA is

[[Page 43480]]

proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

DATES: The FAA must receive comments on this proposed AD by August 24, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, using the procedures found in 14 CFR 
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail address above between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    AD Docket: You may examine the AD docket at regulations.gov under 
Docket No. FAA-2023-1222; or in person at Docket Operations between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 
docket contains this NPRM, any comments received, and other 
information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed above.
    Material Incorporated by Reference:
     For service information identified in this NPRM, contact 
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Contractual & Data Services 
(C&DS), 2600 Westminster Blvd., MC 110-SK57, Seal Beach, CA 90740-5600; 
telephone 562-797-1717; website myboeingfleet.com.
     You may view this service information at the FAA, 
Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 
216th St., Des Moines, WA. For information on the availability of this 
material at the FAA, call 206-231-3195. It is also available at 
regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-2023-1222.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stefanie Roesli, Aviation Safety 
Engineer, FAA, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198; phone: 206-
231-3964; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites you to send any written relevant data, views, or 
arguments about this proposal. Send your comments to an address listed 
under ADDRESSES. Include ``Docket No. FAA-2023-1222; Project Identifier 
AD-2023-00574-T'' at the beginning of your comments. The most helpful 
comments reference a specific portion of the proposal, explain the 
reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. The FAA 
will consider all comments received by the closing date and may amend 
this proposal because of those comments.
    Except for Confidential Business Information (CBI) as described in 
the following paragraph, and other information as described in 14 CFR 
11.35, the FAA will post all comments received, without change, to 
regulations.gov, including any personal information you provide. The 
agency will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal 
contact received about this NPRM.

Confidential Business Information

    CBI is commercial or financial information that is both customarily 
and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public 
disclosure. If your comments responsive to this NPRM contain commercial 
or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that 
you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to 
this NPRM, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted 
comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing 
CBI as ``PROPIN.'' The FAA will treat such marked submissions as 
confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public 
docket of this NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to 
Stefanie Roesli, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 2200 South 216th St., 
Des Moines, WA 98198; phone: 206-231-3964; email: 
[email protected]. Any commentary that the FAA receives that is 
not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket 
for this rulemaking.

Background

    The FAA issued AD 2021-02-15, Amendment 39-21398 (86 FR 10750, 
February 23, 2021) (AD 2021-02-15), for certain The Boeing Company 
Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 
747-300, 747-400, 747-400D, 747-400F, and 747SR series airplanes. AD 
2021-02-15 was prompted by reports of partial and full inboard foreflap 
departures from the airplane. Inboard flap departures have been 
attributed to inadequate lubrication of the outboard fitting assembly, 
corrosion of the outboard fitting assembly, and corrosion in the 
inboard link assembly. In addition, broken center toggle rollers at the 
inboard sequence carriage and binding of inboard foreflap tracks due to 
defective or seized foreflap track rollers can lead to higher than 
normal loads on the outboard fitting assembly and the inboard link 
assembly. AD 2021-02-15 requires repetitive replacement of certain 
parts; a general visual inspection to determine production 
configuration for certain parts; a repetitive lubrication of certain 
parts and a repetitive general visual inspection of certain parts for 
any exuding grease; repetitive detailed inspections of certain parts 
for loose or missing attachment bolts, cracks or bushing migration, 
cracks or gouges, or broken, binding, or missing rollers; repetitive 
detailed inspections of certain parts for cracks or corrosion; 
repetitive lubrication; and on-condition actions if necessary. The 
agency issued AD 2021-02-15 to address departures of the inboard 
foreflap assembly from the airplane, which could result in damage to 
the airplane and adversely affect the airplane's continued safe flight 
and landing.

Actions Since AD 2021-02-15 Was Issued

    Since the FAA issued AD 2021-02-15, the FAA determined that certain 
compliance times must be reduced in order to address the unsafe 
condition. Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, dated 
November 15, 2019, which is the appropriate source of service 
information for accomplishing the actions required by AD 2021-02-15, 
includes compliance times in Tables 1 through 4 of the ``Compliance'' 
paragraph that specify ``whichever occurs later'' instead of 
``whichever occurs first.''
    Boeing issued Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, 
Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023, to reduce the compliance time by 
replacing ``Within 2 years after the original issue date of 
Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB or within 1,960 flight cycles 
after the original issue date of Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, 
whichever occurs later'' with ``Within 2 years after the Revision 1 
date of Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB or within 1,960 flight 
cycles after the original issue date of Requirements Bulletin 747-
57A2367 RB, whichever occurs first.''

FAA's Determination

    The FAA is issuing this NPRM after determining that the unsafe 
condition described previously is likely to exist or develop on other 
products of the same type design.

[[Page 43481]]

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

    The FAA reviewed Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, 
Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023. This service information specifies 
procedures for repetitive replacement of certain parts; a general 
visual inspection to determine production configuration for certain 
parts; a repetitive lubrication of certain parts and a repetitive 
general visual inspection of certain parts for any exuding grease; 
repetitive detailed inspections of certain parts for loose or missing 
attachment bolts, cracks or bushing migration, cracks or gouges, or 
broken, binding, or missing rollers; repetitive detailed inspections of 
certain parts for cracks or corrosion; repetitive lubrication; and on-
condition actions if necessary. On-condition actions include 
replacements and repair.
    This service information is reasonably available because the 
interested parties have access to it through their normal course of 
business or by the means identified in ADDRESSES.

Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM

    Although this proposed AD does not explicitly restate the 
requirements of AD 2021-02-15, this proposed AD would retain all the 
requirements of AD 2021-02-15, with certain reduced compliance times. 
Those requirements are referenced in the service information identified 
previously, which, in turn, is referenced in paragraph (g) of this 
proposed AD.
    This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified 
in the service information already described and except for any 
differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this 
proposed AD. For information on the procedures and compliance times, 
see this service information at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-
2023-1222.

Costs of Compliance

    The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would 
affect 134 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following 
costs to comply with this proposed AD:

                                                 Estimated Costs
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                                                                                                 Cost on U.S.
              Action                    Labor cost        Parts cost      Cost per product        operators
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Repetitive replacement (retained   Up to 10 work-hours         $35,719  Up to $36,569 per    Up to $4,900,246
 actions from AD 2021-02-15).       x $85 per hour =                     replacement cycle.   per replacement
                                    Up to $850 per                                            cycle.
                                    replacement cycle.
General visual inspection for      1 work-hour x $85                 0  $85................  $11,390.
 parts production configuration     per hour = $85.
 (retained actions from AD 2021-
 02-15).
Repetitive detailed inspections    4 work-hours x $85                0  $340 per inspection  $45,560 per
 (retained actions from AD 2021-    per hour = $340                      cycle.               inspection cycle.
 02-15).                            per inspection
                                    cycle.
Repetitive inspection for          1 work-hour x $85                 0  $85 per lubrication  $11,390 per
 lubrication and repetitive         per hour = $85 per                                        lubrication.
 lubrication (retained actions      lubrication.
 from AD 2021-02-15).
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    The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary on-
condition actions that would be required. The FAA has no way of 
determining the number of aircraft that might need these on-condition 
actions:

              Estimated Costs of On-Condition Replacements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Labor cost                 Parts cost       Cost per product
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up to 8 work-hour x $85 per hour  Up to $17,720.....  Up to $18,400.
 = $680.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FAA has received no definitive data that would enable the FAA 
to provide cost estimates for the on-condition repairs specified in 
this proposed AD.

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.
    The FAA is 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

    The FAA determined that this proposed AD would not have federalism 
implications under Executive Order 13132. This proposed AD would 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 this proposed 
regulation:
    (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive 
Order 12866,
    (2) Would not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska, and
    (3) Would not have a significant economic impact, positive or 
negative, on a substantial number of small entities under the criteria 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39

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

[[Page 43482]]

The Proposed Amendment

    Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the 
Administrator, the FAA proposes to amend 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 FAA amends Sec.  39.13 by:
0
a. Removing Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2021-02-15, Amendment 39-21398 
(86 FR 10750, February 23, 2021), and
0
b. Adding the following new AD:

The Boeing Company: Docket No. FAA-2023-1222; Project Identifier AD-
2023-00574-T.

(a) Comments Due Date

    The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive 
(AD) by August 24, 2023.

(b) Affected ADs

    This AD replaces AD 2021-02-15, Amendment 39-21398 (86 FR 10750, 
February 23, 2021) (AD 2021-02-15).

(c) Applicability

    This AD applies to The Boeing Company Model 747-100, 747-100B, 
747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 747-300, 747-400, 747-
400D, 747-400F, and 747SR series airplanes, certificated in any 
category, as identified in Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-
57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023.

(d) Subject

    Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 57, Wings.

(e) Unsafe Condition

    This AD was prompted by reports of partial and full inboard 
foreflap departures from the airplane. The FAA is issuing this AD to 
address departures of the inboard foreflap assembly from the 
airplane, which could result in damage to the airplane and adversely 
affect the airplane's continued safe flight and landing.

(f) Compliance

    Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified, 
unless already done.

(g) Retained Actions, With Revised Compliance Times and Service 
Information

    This paragraph restates the requirements of paragraph (g) of AD 
2021-02-15, with revised compliance times and service information. 
Except as specified by paragraph (h) of this AD: At the applicable 
times specified in the ``Compliance'' paragraph of Boeing Alert 
Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 
2023, do all applicable actions identified in, and in accordance 
with, the Accomplishment Instructions of Boeing Alert Requirements 
Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023.
    Note 1 to paragraph (g): Guidance for accomplishing the actions 
required by this AD can be found in Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 
747-57A2367, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023, which is referred to 
in Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, Revision 1, 
dated March 20, 2023.

(h) Exceptions to Service Information Specifications

    (1) Where the Compliance Time columns of the tables in the 
``Compliance'' paragraph of Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-
57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023, use the phrase ``the 
original issue date of Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB,'' this 
AD requires using March 30, 2021 (the effective date of AD 2021-02-
15).
    (2) Where the Compliance Time columns of the tables in the 
``Compliance'' paragraph of Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-
57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023, use the phrase ``the 
Revision 1 date of Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB,'' this AD 
requires using ``the effective date of this AD.''

(i) Credit for Previous Actions

    This paragraph provides credit for the actions specified in 
paragraph (g) of this AD, if those actions were performed before the 
effective date of this AD using Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 
747-57A2367 RB, dated November 15, 2019.

(j) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)

    (1) The Manager, AIR-520 Continued Operational Safety Branch, 
FAA, has the authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if requested 
using the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. In accordance with 14 
CFR 39.19, send your request to your principal inspector or 
responsible Flight Standards Office, as appropriate. If sending 
information directly to the manager of the certification office, 
send it to the attention of the person identified in paragraph 
(k)(1) of this AD. Information may be emailed to: [email protected].
    (2) Before using any approved AMOC, notify your appropriate 
principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, the manager 
of the responsible Flight Standards Office.
    (3) An AMOC that provides an acceptable level of safety may be 
used for any repair, modification, or alteration required by this AD 
if it is approved by The Boeing Company Organization Designation 
Authorization (ODA) that has been authorized by the Manager, AIR-520 
Continued Operational Safety Branch, FAA, to make those findings. To 
be approved, the repair method, modification deviation, or 
alteration deviation must meet the certification basis of the 
airplane, and the approval must specifically refer to this AD.
    (4) AMOCs approved for AD 2021-02-15 are approved as AMOCs for 
the corresponding provisions of Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 
747-57A2367 RB, Revision 1, dated March 20, 2023, that are required 
by paragraph (g) of this AD.

(k) Related Information

    (1) For more information about this AD, contact Stefanie Roesli, 
Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA 
98198; phone: 206-231-3964; email: [email protected].
    (2) Service information identified in this AD that is not 
incorporated by reference is available at the addresses specified in 
paragraphs (l)(3) and (4) of this AD.

(l) Material Incorporated by Reference

    (1) The Director of the Federal Register approved the 
incorporation by reference (IBR) of the service information listed 
in this paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.
    (2) You must use this service information as applicable to do 
the actions required by this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise.
    (i) Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 747-57A2367 RB, Revision 
1, dated March 20, 2023.
    (ii) [Reserved]
    (3) For service information identified in this AD, contact 
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Contractual & Data Services 
(C&DS), 2600 Westminster Blvd., MC 110-SK57, Seal Beach, CA 90740-
5600; telephone 562-797-1717; website myboeingfleet.com.
    (4) You may view this service information at the FAA, 
Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 2200 
South 216th St., Des Moines, WA. For information on the availability 
of this material at the FAA, call 206-231-3195.
    (5) You may view this service information that is incorporated 
by reference at the National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA). For information on the availability of this material at 
NARA, [email protected], or go to: www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html.

    Issued on June 15, 2023.
Michael Linegang,
Acting Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft 
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-14330 Filed 7-7-23; 8:45 am]
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