[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]
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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).
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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
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Cost per Cost on U.S.
Action Labor cost Parts cost product operators
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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.
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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
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Cost per
Labor cost Parts cost product
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4 work-hours x $85 per hour = $340.... $2,000 $2,340
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[[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