[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 57 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20360-20362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06083]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2024-0471; Project Identifier MCAI-2023-01213-T]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) 
for all Airbus SAS Model A300 B4-601, B4-603, B4-620, B4-622, B4-605R, 
B4-622R, C4-605R Variant F, F4-605R, and F4-622R airplanes, Model A310 
series airplanes, Model A318, A319, A320, and A321-series airplanes, 
Model A330-200, -200 Freighter, and -300 series airplanes, Model A330-
841 and -941 airplanes, and Model A340-211, -212, -213, -311, -312, -
313, -541, and -642 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by 
reported occurrences of chemical oxygen generators failing to activate 
in service and during maintenance activities. This proposed AD would 
require replacing affected oxygen generators, as specified in a 
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for 
incorporation by reference (IBR). This proposed AD would also prohibit 
the installation of affected parts. 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 May 6, 
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-2024-0471; 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 EASA material that is proposed for IBR in this AD, 
contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone 
+49 221 8999 000; email [email protected]; website easa.europa.eu. You 
may find this material on the EASA website at ad.easa.europa.eu. It is 
also available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-0471.
     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: Dan Rodina, Aviation Safety Engineer, 
FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 206-
231-3225; 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-2024-0471; Project Identifier 
MCAI-2023-01213-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 Dan 
Rodina, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, 
Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 206-231-3225; 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

    EASA, which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the 
European Union, has issued EASA AD 2023-0209, dated November 22, 2023 
(EASA AD 2023-0209) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an 
unsafe condition for all Model A300 B4-601, B4-603, B4-620, B4-622, B4-
605R, B4-622R, C4-620, C4-605R Variant F, F4-605R and F4-622R 
airplanes, Model 300 F4-608ST airplanes, Model A310-203, -203C, -204, -
221, -222, -304, -308, -322, -324, and -325 airplanes, Model A318-111, 
-112, -121, and -122 airplanes, Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, 
-131, -132, -133, -151N, -153N, and -171N airplanes, Model A320-211, -
212, -214, -215, -216, -231, -232, -233, -251N, -252N, -253N, -271N, -
272N, and -273N airplanes, Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -
213, -231, -232, -251N, -252N, -253N, -271N, -272N, -251NX, -252NX, -
253NX, -271NX, and -272NX airplanes, Model A330-201, -202, -203, -223, 
-243, -223F, -243F, -301, -302, -303, -321, -322, -323, -341, -342, -
343, -743L, -841, and -941 airplanes, and Model A340-211, -212, -213, 
311, -312, -313, -541, -542, -642, and -643 airplanes. Model A300 F4-
608ST, A300 C4-620, A310-203C, A310-308, A320-215, A330-743L, A340-542, 
and A340-643 airplanes are not certificated by the FAA and are not 
included on the U.S. type certificate data sheet; this proposed AD 
therefore does not include those airplanes in the applicability. The 
MCAI states occurrences were reported of chemical oxygen generators 
failing to

[[Page 20361]]

activate in service and during maintenance activities. Subsequent 
investigations identified poor reactivity of the start powder used 
inside the oxygen generator. This condition, if not corrected, could 
lead to a reduction of the available oxygen capacity of the airplane, 
possibly resulting in injury to the airplane occupants.
    The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on 
these products.
    You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at regulations.gov under 
Docket No. FAA-2024-0471.

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

    EASA AD 2023-0209 specifies procedures for replacing affected 
oxygen generators, which includes reporting and returning affected 
parts to the manufacturer. EASA AD 2023-0209 also prohibits the 
installation of affected parts. 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 ADDRESSES.

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 EASA AD 2023-0209 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 EASA AD 2023-0209 by reference in the FAA 
final rule. This proposed AD would, therefore, require compliance with 
EASA AD 2023-0209 in its entirety through that incorporation, except 
for any differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of 
this proposed AD. Using common terms that are the same as the heading 
of a particular section in EASA AD 2023-0209 does not mean that 
operators need comply only with that section. For example, where the AD 
requirement refers to ``all required actions and compliance times,'' 
compliance with this AD requirement is not limited to the section 
titled ``Required Action(s) and Compliance Time(s)'' in EASA AD 2023-
0209. Service information required by EASA AD 2023-0209 for compliance 
will be available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-0471 
after the FAA final rule is published.

Costs of Compliance

    The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would 
affect 1,975 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
               Action                        Labor cost         Parts cost    product     Cost on U.S. operators
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Replacement.........................  1 work-hour x $85 per           $500         $585  $585 per oxygen
                                       hour = $85.                                        generator.*
Return of parts.....................  5 work-hours x $85 per             0          425  $425 per oxygen
                                       hour = $425.                                       generator.*
Reporting...........................  1 work-hour x $85 per              0           85  $167,875.
                                       hour = $85.
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* Based upon various airplane sizes and configurations there could, on average, be 30 affected generators per
  airplane.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for 
failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of 
information displays a current valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 
Control Number for this information collection is 2120-0056. Public 
reporting for this collection of information is estimated to take 
approximately 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. All responses to this collection of 
information are mandatory. Send comments regarding this burden estimate 
or any other aspect of this collection of information, including 
suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, Federal Aviation Administration, 10101 Hillwood 
Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76177-1524.

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

[[Page 20362]]

    (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 adding the following new airworthiness 
directive:

Airbus SAS: Docket No. FAA-2024-0471; Project Identifier MCAI-2023-
01213-T.

(a) Comments Due Date

    The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive 
(AD) by May 6, 2024.

(b) Affected ADs

    None.

(c) Applicability

    This AD applies to all Airbus SAS airplanes, certificated in any 
category, identified in paragraphs (c)(1) through (8) of this AD.
    (1) Model A300 B4-601, B4-603, B4-620, B4-622, B4-605R, B4-622R, 
C4-605R Variant F, F4-605R, and F4-622R airplanes.
    (2) Model A310-203, -204, -221, -222, -304, -322, -324, and -325 
airplanes.
    (3) Model A318-111, -112, -121, and -122 airplanes.
    (4) Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, -133, -
151N, -153N, and -171N airplanes.
    (5) Model A320-211, -212, -214, -216, -231, -232, -233, -251N, -
252N, -253N, -271N, -272N, and -273N airplanes.
    (6) Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, -232, -
251N, -252N, -253N, -271N, -272N, -251NX, -252NX, -253NX, -271NX, 
and -272NX airplanes.
    (7) Model A330-201, -202, -203, -223, -223F, -243, -243F, -301, 
-302, -303, -321, -322, -323, -341, -342, -343, -841, and -941 
airplanes.
    (8) Model A340-211, -212, -213, 311, -312, -313, -541, and -642 
airplanes.

(d) Subject

    Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 35, Oxygen.

(e) Unsafe Condition

    This AD was prompted by reported occurrences of chemical oxygen 
generators failing to activate in service and during maintenance 
activities. The FAA is issuing this AD to address poor reactivity of 
the start powder used inside the affected oxygen generators. The 
unsafe condition, if not addressed, could lead to a reduction of the 
available oxygen capacity of the airplane and could result in injury 
to airplane occupants.

(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, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD 
2023-0209, dated November 22, 2023 (EASA AD 2023-0209).

(h) Exceptions to EASA AD 2023-0209

    (1) Where EASA AD 2023-0209 refers to its effective date, this 
AD requires using the effective date of this AD.
    (2) Where paragraph (1) of EASA AD 2023-0209 specifies ``in 
accordance with the instructions of the AOT,'' this AD requires 
replacing that text with ``in accordance with paragraph 5.6 of the 
AOT.''
    (3) The service information referenced in EASA AD 2023-0209 
specifies to report inspection results to Airbus and return affected 
oxygen generators to Collins Aerospace. For this AD, report 
inspection results and return affected oxygen generators at the 
applicable time specified in paragraph (h)(3)(i) or (ii) of this AD.
    (i) If the affected oxygen generator was replaced on or after 
the effective date of this AD: Submit the report and return the 
affected oxygen generator within 40 days after the replacement.
    (ii) If the affected oxygen generator was replaced before the 
effective date of this AD: Submit the report and return the affected 
oxygen generator within 40 days after the effective date of this AD.
    (4) This AD does not adopt the ``Remarks'' section of EASA AD 
2023-0209.

(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]. Before using any approved AMOC, notify your 
appropriate principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, 
the manager of the responsible Flight Standards Office.
    (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 EASA; or Airbus SAS's EASA Design 
Organization Approval (DOA). If approved by the DOA, the approval 
must include the DOA-authorized signature.
    (3) Required for Compliance (RC): Except as required by 
paragraph (i)(2) of this AD, if any service information referenced 
in EASA AD 2023-0209 contains paragraphs that are labeled as RC, the 
instructions in RC paragraphs, including subparagraphs under an RC 
paragraph, must be done to comply with this AD; any paragraphs, 
including subparagraphs under those paragraphs, that are not 
identified as RC are recommended. The instructions in paragraphs, 
including subparagraphs under those paragraphs, not identified as RC 
may be deviated from using accepted methods in accordance with the 
operator's maintenance or inspection program without obtaining 
approval of an AMOC, provided the instructions identified as RC can 
be done and the airplane can be put back in an airworthy condition. 
Any substitutions or changes to instructions identified as RC 
require approval of an AMOC.

(j) Additional Information

    For more information about this AD, contact Dan Rodina, Aviation 
Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 
11590; telephone 206-231-3225; 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.
    (2) You must use this service information as applicable to do 
the actions required by this AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise.
    (i) European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD 2023-0209, 
dated November 22, 2023.
    (ii) [Reserved]
    (3) EASA AD 2023-0209, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 
50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 000; email 
[email protected]; website easa.europa.eu. You may find this EASA 
AD on the EASA website at ad.easa.europa.eu.
    (4) 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.
    (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 12, 2024.
Victor Wicklund,
Deputy Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft 
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06083 Filed 3-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P