[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 48 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17343-17346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04955]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2024-0464; Project Identifier MCAI-2022-01556-T]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (Type 
Certificate Previously Held by C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership 
(CSALP); Bombardier, Inc.) Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 
2021-09-03, which applies to certain Airbus Canada Limited Partnership 
Model BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 airplanes. AD 2021-09-03 requires 
repetitive replacements of the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) 
antenna and repetitive inspections of the exterior fuselage skin around 
the ELT antenna attachment area. Since the FAA issued AD 2021-09-03, it 
has been reported that there was an in-service failure of an ELT 
antenna that occurred before the repetitive replacement interval 
required by AD 2021-09-03, and that a terminating action was developed. 
This proposed AD would continue to require the actions in AD 2021-09-03 
and would require replacement of the ELT antenna with a new ELT 
antenna, inspection of the exterior fuselage skin around the ELT 
antenna attachment holes, and repair if necessary, as specified in a 
Transport Canada AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference 
(IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on 
these products.

DATES: The FAA must receive comments on this proposed AD by April 25, 
2024.

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-2024-0464; 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, the mandatory continuing airworthiness 
information (MCAI), any comments received, and other information. The 
street address for Docket Operations is listed above.
    Material Incorporated by Reference:
     For the Transport Canada AD identified in this NPRM, 
contact Transport Canada, Transport Canada National Aircraft 
Certification, 159 Cleopatra Drive, Nepean, Ontario K1A 0N5, Canada; 
telephone 888-663-3639; email [email protected]; website tc.canada.ca/en/aviation. 
It is also available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-0464.
     You may view this material 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yaser Osman, Aviation Safety Engineer, 
FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 860-
386-1786; 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-2024-0464; Project Identifier 
MCAI-2022-01556-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 Yaser 
Osman, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, 
Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 860-386-1786; email: [email protected]. 
Any commentary that the FAA receives which is not specifically 
designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this 
rulemaking.

Background

    The FAA issued AD 2021-09-03, Amendment 39-21516 (86 FR 20266, 
April 19, 2021); corrected April 27, 2021 (86 FR 22111) (AD 2021-09-
03), for certain Airbus Canada Limited Partnership Model BD-500-1A10 
and BD-500-1A11 airplanes. AD 2021-09-03 was prompted by an MCAI 
originated by Transport Canada, which is the aviation authority for 
Canada. Transport Canada issued AD CF-2021-10, dated March 18, 2021 
(Transport Canada AD CF-2021-10), to correct an unsafe condition.
    AD 2021-09-03 requires repetitive replacements of the ELT antenna 
with a new ELT antenna and repetitive inspections for damage of the 
exterior fuselage skin around the ELT antenna attachment area. The FAA 
issued AD

[[Page 17344]]

2021-09-03 to address ELT antenna failure, which can lead to the loss 
of the ELT antenna and the development of fuselage cracks that can 
result in an inability to maintain cabin pressure.

Actions Since AD 2021-09-03 Was Issued

    Since the FAA issued AD 2021-09-03, Transport Canada superseded 
Transport Canada AD CF-2021-10 and issued Transport Canada AD CF-2022-
67, dated December 6, 2022 (Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67) (also 
referred to as the MCAI), to correct an unsafe condition for certain 
Airbus Canada Limited Partnership Model BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 
airplanes. The MCAI states that since Transport Canada AD CF-2021-10 
was issued, an aluminum ELT antenna has been made available to prevent 
ELT antenna failures resulting from vibration loads induced by air 
vortices shed by the Gogo 2Ku antenna radome. In addition, there was an 
in-service failure of an ELT antenna that occurred before the 
repetitive replacement interval required by Transport Canada AD CF-
2021-10 was reached. The MCAI also states installation of the aluminum 
ELT antenna terminates the requirements of Transport Canada CF-2022-67, 
and that the applicability has been limited to airplanes on which the 
aluminum ELT antenna has not been installed in production.
    The FAA is proposing this AD to address ELT antenna failure, which 
can lead to the loss of the ELT antenna and the development of fuselage 
cracks that can result in an inability to maintain cabin pressure. You 
may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at regulations.gov under Docket 
No. FAA-2024-0464.

Explanation of Retained Requirements

    Although this proposed AD does not explicitly restate the 
requirements of AD 2021-09-03, this proposed AD would retain all of the 
requirements of AD 2021-09-03. Those requirements are referenced in 
Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67, which, in turn, is referenced in 
paragraph (g) of this proposed AD.

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

    Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 specifies procedures for:
     Repetitive replacements of the ELT antenna with a new ELT 
antenna and repetitive inspections for damage (including cracking) of 
the exterior fuselage skin around the ELT antenna attachment area, and
     A one-time replacement of the ELT antenna with a new 
aluminum ELT antenna, and detailed inspection for damage (including 
cracking) of the exterior fuselage skin around the ELT antenna 
attachment holes, and repair of any damage, which terminate the 
repetitive replacements and inspections.
    This material is reasonably available because the interested 
parties have access to it through their normal course of business or by 
the means identified in the ADDRESSES section.

FAA's Determination

    This product has been approved by the aviation authority of another 
country and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant to 
the FAA's bilateral agreement with this State of Design Authority, it 
has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition described in the MCAI 
referenced above. The FAA is issuing this NPRM after determining that 
the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop 
in other products of the same type design.

Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM

    This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified 
in Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 described previously, except for any 
differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this 
proposed AD.

Explanation of Required Compliance Information

    In the FAA's ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency of the AD 
process, the FAA developed a process to use some civil aviation 
authority (CAA) ADs as the primary source of information for compliance 
with requirements for corresponding FAA ADs. The FAA has been 
coordinating this process with manufacturers and CAAs. As a result, the 
FAA proposes to incorporate Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 by reference 
in the FAA final rule. This proposed AD would, therefore, require 
compliance with Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 in its entirety through 
that incorporation, except for any differences identified as exceptions 
in the regulatory text of this proposed AD. Service information 
required by Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 for compliance will be 
available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-0464 after the 
FAA final rule is published.

Costs of Compliance

    The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would 
affect 56 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following 
costs to comply with this proposed AD:

                                      Estimated Costs for Required Actions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Cost per      Cost on U.S.
                Action                         Labor cost           Parts cost        product        operators
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retained actions from AD 2021-09-03...  4 work-hours x $85 per            $4,230          $4,570        $255,920
                                         hour = $340.
New proposed actions..................  4 work-hours x $85 per             5,561           5,901         330,456
                                         hour = $340.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary on-
condition actions that would be required based on the results of any 
required actions. The FAA has no way of determining the number of 
aircraft that might need these on-condition actions:

                 Estimated Costs of On-Condition Actions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Cost per
              Labor cost                   Parts cost        product
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 work-hours x $85 per hour = $340....          $2,000           $2,340
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 17345]]

    According to the manufacturer, some or all of the costs of this 
proposed AD may be covered under warranty, thereby reducing the cost 
impact on affected individuals. The FAA does not control warranty 
coverage for affected individuals. As a result, the FAA has included 
all known costs in the cost estimate.

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.

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) 2021-09-03, Amendment 39-21516 
(86 FR 20266, April 19, 2021); corrected April 27, 2021 (86 FR 22111); 
and
0
b. Adding the following new AD:

Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (Type Certificate Previously Held 
by C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP); Bombardier, Inc.): 
Docket No. FAA-2024-0464; Project Identifier MCAI-2022-01556-T.

(a) Comments Due Date

    The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive 
(AD) by April 25, 2024.

(b) Affected ADs

    This AD replaces AD 2021-09-03, Amendment 39-21516 (86 FR 20266, 
April 19, 2021); corrected April 27, 2021 (86 FR 22111) (AD 2021-09-
03).

(c) Applicability

    This AD applies to Airbus Canada Limited Partnership Model BD-
500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 airplanes, certificated in any category, as 
identified in Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67, dated December 6, 2022 
(Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67).

(d) Subject

    Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 25, Equipment/
furnishings; 53, Fuselage.

(e) Unsafe Condition

    This AD was prompted by reports of the failure of emergency 
locator transmitter (ELT) antennas, including an in-service failure 
that occurred before the repetitive replacement interval required by 
AD 2021-09-03, and by the development of a terminating action. The 
FAA is issuing this AD to address ELT antenna failure. The unsafe 
condition, if not addressed, could result in loss of the ELT antenna 
and the development of fuselage cracks that can result in an 
inability to maintain cabin pressure.

(f) Compliance

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

(g) Requirements

    Except as specified in paragraph (h) of this AD: Comply with all 
required actions and compliance times specified in, and in 
accordance with, Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67.

(h) Exception to Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67

    (1) Where Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 refers to its effective 
date, this AD requires using the effective date of this AD.
    (2) Where Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 refers to April 1, 2021 
(the effective date of Transport Canada AD CF-2021-10, dated March 
18, 2021), this AD requires using May 4, 2021 (the effective date of 
AD 2021-09-03).
    (3) Where Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 refers to hours air 
time, this AD requires using flight hours.
    (4) Where paragraph C. of Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67 
specifies to ``replace the ELT antenna with a new aluminum ELT 
antenna and inspect the exterior fuselage skin around the ELT 
antenna attachment holes for damage, repairing any damage found 
before further flight,'' this AD requires replacing that text with 
``replace the ELT antenna with a new aluminum ELT antenna, including 
doing an inspection of the exterior fuselage skin around the ELT 
antenna attachment holes for damage, and, before further flight, 
repair any damage found.''

(i) Additional AD Provisions

    The following provisions also apply to this AD:
    (1) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs): The Manager, 
International Validation 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 
International Validation Branch, mail it to the address identified 
in paragraph (j) of this AD. Information may be emailed to: [email protected].
    (i) Before using any approved AMOC, notify your appropriate 
principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, the manager 
of the responsible Flight Standards Office.
    (ii) AMOCs approved previously for AD 2021-09-03 are not 
approved as AMOCs for the corresponding provisions of Transport 
Canada AD CF-2022-67 that are required by paragraph (g) of this AD.
    (2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any requirement in this AD 
to obtain instructions from a manufacturer, the instructions must be 
accomplished using a method approved by the Manager, International 
Validation Branch, FAA; or Transport Canada; or Airbus Canada 
Limited Partnership's Transport Canada Design Approval Organization 
(DAO). If approved by the DAO, the approval must include the DAO-
authorized signature.

(j) Additional Information

    For more information about this AD, contact Yaser Osman, 
Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, 
Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 860-386-1786; email: 
[email protected].

(k) 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.

[[Page 17346]]

    (2) You must use this service information as applicable to do 
the actions required by this AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise.
    (i) Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67, dated December 6, 2022.
    (ii) [Reserved]
    (3) For Transport Canada AD CF-2022-67, contact Transport 
Canada, Transport Canada National Aircraft Certification, 159 
Cleopatra Drive, Nepean, Ontario K1A 0N5, Canada; telephone 888-663-
3639; email [email protected]; website tc.canada.ca/en/
aviation.
    (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 material at the National Archives and 
Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability 
of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations, or email [email protected].

    Issued on March 4, 2024.
Victor Wicklund,
Deputy Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft 
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-04955 Filed 3-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P