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EASA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE 

AD No : 2006 - 0198 

Date: 11 July 2006

No person may operate an aircraft to which an Airworthiness Directive applies, except in accordance with the 

requirements of that Airworthiness Directive unless otherwise agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry.

Type Approval Holder’s Name : 

SHORT BROTHERS PLC 

Type/Model designation(s) : 

SD3-30, SD3-60, SD3-SHERPA & SD3-60 

SHERPA 

TCDS Number : UK CAA BA11 

Foreign AD : none 

Supersedes : UK CAA AD G-2004-0021 R1 

ATA 28 Fuel - Fuel Tank Safety 

Fuel Airworthiness Limitations 

Manufacturer(s): Short Brothers PLC (formerly Short Brothers Ltd; Short Brothers & Harland 

Ltd). 

Applicability: All Model SD3-30, SD3-60, SD3-Sherpa & SD3-60-Sherpa aircraft. 

Reason: Subsequent to accidents involving Fuel Tank System explosions in flight 

(Boeing 747-131 flight TWA800) and on ground, the FAA published Special 

Federal Aviation Regulation 88 (SFAR88) in June 2001. SFAR 88 required a 

safety review of the aircraft Fuel Tank System to determine that the design 

meets the requirements of FAR § 25.901 and § 25.981(a) and (b). 

A similar regulation has been recommended by the JAA to the European 

National Aviation Authorities in JAA letter 04/00/02/07/03-L024 of 3 February 

2003. The review was requested to be mandated by NAA’s using JAR § 

25.901(c), § 25.1309. 

In August 2005 EASA published a policy statement on the process for 

developing instructions for maintenance and inspection of Fuel Tank System 

ignition source prevention (EASA D 2005/CPRO, 

www.easa.eu.int/home/cert_policy_statements_en.html) that also included the 

EASA expectations with regard to compliance times of the corrective actions on 

the unsafe and the not unsafe part of the harmonised design review results. On 

a global scale the TC holders committed themselves to the EASA published 

compliance dates (see EASA policy statement). The EASA policy statement 
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has been revised in March 2006: the date of 31-12-2005 for the unsafe related 

actions has now been set at 01-07-2006. 

Fuel Airworthiness Limitations are items arising from a systems safety analysis 

that have been shown to have failure mode(s) associated with an ‘unsafe 

condition’ as defined in FAA’s memo 2003-112-15 ‘SFAR 88 – Mandatory 

Action Decision Criteria’. These are identified in Failure Conditions for which 

an unacceptable probability of ignition risk could exist if specific tasks and/or 

practices are not performed in accordance with the manufacturers’ 

requirements. 

This EASA Airworthiness Directive mandates the Fuel System Airworthiness 

Limitations, comprising maintenance/inspection tasks and Critical Design 

Control Configuration Limitations (CDCCL) for the type of aircraft, that resulted 

from the design reviews and the JAA recommendation and EASA policy 

statement mentioned above. 

Revision History: PAD 06-018R1 has been issued to endorse comments 

received for PAD 06-018 and due to the change of the EASA policy 

statement on fuel tank safety on March 2006. 

Effective Date: 19 July 2006 

Compliance: Unless already accomplished, the following actions are rendered mandatory: 

1. Maintenance/Inspection Tasks 

- Within 6 months after the effective date of this AD, perform the 

following tasks in accordance with the applicable Shorts Service 

Bulletin specified in Table 1 of this AD. 

Table 1 

Aircraft Type/Model Applicable Service Bulletin 

SD3-30 SD 330-28-37 initial issue dated June 

2004 

SD3-60 SD 360-28-23 initial issue dated June 

2004 

SD3-SHERPA SD3 SHERPA-28-2 initial issue dated 

June 2004 

SD3-60 SHERPA SD360 SHERPA-28-3 initial issue 

dated June 2004 

- Within 3 months after the effective date of this AD, incorporate the 

fuel system airworthiness limitations specified in Sections 5-20-01 

and 5-20-02 of the Aircraft Maintenance Manual Publications as 

introduced by the Temporary Revisions detailed within the referenced 

publications section of this AD into the operator approved 

maintenance programme/Schedule. 
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- Accomplishment of the tasks specified in Table 1 is required to 

ensure that baseline inspections/checks are accomplished. 

Subsequent repeat inspections/checks shall then be accomplished in 

accordance with Section 5-20-01 of the AMM at the established 

repeat intervals. 

2. CDCCL 

- It is the responsibility of the operator to ensure that their internal 

maintenance task control documentation is amended to reflect the 

data contained within section 5-20-02 of the AMM and provide 

appropriate text to highlight the existence of each CDCCL. 

 - No retroactive action on aircraft in service is required further to the 

above mentioned amendment of the continued airworthiness 

documentation. 

Ref. Publications: 

Aircraft Type/Model Section 5-20-01 as 

revised by 

Section 5-20-02 as 

revised by 

SD3-60 TR 360-AMM-55 TR 360-AMM-56 

SD3-30 TR 330-AMM-35 TR 330-AMM-36 

SD3 Sherpa TR SD3S-AMM-36 TR 360-AMM-37 

SD360 Sherpa TR SD360S-AMM-35 TR SD360S-AMM-36 

or later approved revisions. 

Remarks : 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated the responsible EASA 

manager for the related product has the authority to accept Alternative 

Methods of Compliance (AMOCs) for this AD. 

2. This AD was posted as PAD 06-018R1 for consultation on 07 June 2006 

with a comment period until 22 June 2006. No comment was raised during 

consultation period. 

3. Enquiries regarding this Airworthiness Directive should be referred to Mr. 

M. Capaccio, Airworthiness Directive Focal Point - Certification Directorate, 

EASA. E-mail: ADs@easa.europa.eu .

4. For any questions concerning the technical content of the requirements in 

this AD, please contact Airworthiness, Short Brothers PLC, PO Box 241, 

Airport Road, Belfast, BT3 9DZ, Northern Ireland. 

Phone:+44 2890462469; Fax:+ 44 2890468444 

E-mail: michael.mulholland@aero.bombardier.com.