69556 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 20, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

and anticipates making every effort to 

distribute the same scenarios to all 

covered banks. 

In addition to the minimum three 

scenarios, the FDIC may require a 

covered bank with significant trading 

activities to include factors related to 

trading and counterparty risk in its 

stress test. Typically, these factors might 

include additional shocks to specific 

market prices, interest rates, rate 

spreads, or other key market variables 

consistent with historical or 

hypothetical adverse market events. 

IV. Development and Distribution 

As one part of the process of 

developing scenarios, the FDIC will 

gather information from outside entities 

and develop themes for the stress test 

scenarios, including the identification of 

potentially material vulnerabilities or 

salient risks to the financial system, and 

consider potential paths for individual 

variables. The outside entities may 

include academic experts, staffs of 

international organizations, foreign 

supervisors, financial institutions that 

regularly provide forecasts, and other 

private sector risk analysts that regularly 

conduct stress tests based on U.S. and 

global economic and financial scenarios. 

The FDIC will use the information 

gathered in this manner to inform its 

consideration of potential risks and 

scenarios. 

The Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (‘‘OCC’’), the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (‘‘Board’’), and the FDIC 

(collectively, the ‘‘Agencies’’) expect to 

consult closely to develop scenarios for 

stress testing. Absent specific 

supervisory concerns, the FDIC 

anticipates that the annual stress test 

scenarios distributed by the FDIC will 

be the same as or nearly identical to the 

scenarios developed by the Board for 

the supervisory stress tests conducted 

by the Board under Section 165(i)(1). 

This would mean the same economic 

and financial variables following the 

same paths as used in the scenarios for 

the Board’s supervisory stress tests. 

Although the Agencies generally 

expect to consult closely on scenario 

development, they may have different 

views of risks that should be reflected 

in the stress test scenarios used by 

covered banks for the annual stress test. 

The FDIC may distribute scenarios to 

covered banks that differ in certain 

respects from those distributed by the 

OCC and the Board if necessary to better 

reflect specific FDIC concerns. The FDIC 

expects such situations to be extremely 

rare, however, and anticipates making 

every effort to avoid differences in the 

scenarios required by each agency. 

The FDIC anticipates that the stress 

test scenarios will be revised annually 

as appropriate to ensure that each 

scenario remains relevant under 

prevailing economic and industry 

conditions. These yearly revisions will 

enable the scenarios to capture evolving 

risks and vulnerabilities. The need to 

ensure that scenarios do not become 

outdated because of economic and 

financial developments makes a lengthy 

process of review and comment 

concerning scenarios prior to 

distribution each year impractical. 

However, the process of consultation 

with the Board and the OCC, as well as 

the ongoing interaction of FDIC staff 

with public and private sector experts to 

obtain views on salient risks and to 

obtain suggestions for the behavior of 

key economic variables, should ensure 

that the stress conditions reflected in 

the scenarios are well suited to their 

purpose. 

The scenario development process 

culminates with the distribution of the 

scenarios to all covered banks no later 

than November 15th of each year. The 

scenario descriptions provided to 

covered banks will include values for 

economic and financial variables 

depicting the paths those variables 

follow under the scenarios. The FDIC 

believes that distribution of the 

scenarios no later than November 15th 

aligns with similar processes at the OCC 

and the Board. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Dated at Washington, DC, this 14th day of 

November 2012. 

Valerie J. Best, 

Assistant Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28104 Filed 11–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6714–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0528; Directorate 

Identifier 2011–SW–068–AD; Amendment 

39–17261; AD 2012–23–05] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter 

Deutschland Helicopters 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for all 

Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (ECD) 

Model MBB–BK117 C–2 helicopters 

with certain Generator Control Units 

(GCU) installed. This AD requires 

replacing the GCUs. This AD was 

prompted by reports of internal short 

circuits in certain GCUs. These actions 

are intended to prevent a short circuit, 

which could result in a loss of electrical 

generating power, loss of systems 

required for continued safe flight and 

landing, and subsequent loss of control 

of the helicopter. 

DATES: This AD is effective December 

26, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: For service information 

identified in this AD, contact American 

Eurocopter Corporation, 2701 N. Forum 

Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75052, 

telephone (972) 641–0000 or (800) 232– 

0323, fax (972) 641–3775, or at http:// 

www.eurocopter.com/techpub. You may 

review the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Office of the 

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 

2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort 

Worth, Texas 76137. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in person at the 

Docket Operations Office between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this AD, any 

incorporated-by-reference service 

information, the economic evaluation, 

any comments received, and other 

information. The street address for the 

Docket Operations Office (phone: 800– 

647–5527) is U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations 

Office, M–30, West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

George Schwab, Aviation Safety 

Engineer, FAA, Rotorcraft Directorate, 

Safety Management Group, 2601 

Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 

76137; telephone (817) 222–5114; email 

george.schwab@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion 

On May 22, 2012, at 77 FR 30230, the 

Federal Register published our notice of 

proposed rulemaking (NPRM), which 

proposed to amend 14 CFR part 39 to 

include an AD that would apply to ECD 

Model MBB–BK117 C–2 helicopters 

with a GCU, part number (P/N) 51530– 

021EI with no modification (MOD), 

MOD A, or MOD B installed. That 

NPRM proposed to require replacing the 

GCU within 300 hours time-in-service 

(TIS) or 6 months, whichever occurred 

earlier. The proposed requirements were 

intended to prevent loss of electrical 

generating power, resulting in the loss 


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of systems required for continued safe 

flight and landing, and subsequent loss 

of control of the helicopter. 

The European Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA), which is the Technical Agent 

for the Member States of the European 

Union, has issued EASA AD No. 2011– 

0149R1, dated September 30, 2011 (AD 

2011–0149R1), to correct an unsafe 

condition for the Eurocopter 

Deutschland GmbH Model MBB–BK117 

C–2 helicopters. EASA advises that 

during an acceptance test procedure of 

a GCU, a short circuit caused by a 

manufacturing discrepancy occurred 

within the unit. According to EASA, all 

P/N 51530–021EI ‘‘no MOD,’’ ‘‘MOD 

A,’’ and ‘‘MOD B’’ GCUs are potentially 

affected by this discrepancy. To address 

this potential unsafe condition, EASA 

issued AD No. 2011–0149, dated August 

19, 2011, to identify and replace each 

affected GCU with an airworthy GCU. 

Since issuing that AD, ECD 

demonstrated that helicopters modified 

in accordance with ECD Alert Service 

Bulletin (ASB) MBB BK117 C–2–24A– 

008, Revision 1, dated August 29, 2011, 

have a much lower risk of losing 

electrical generating power from a faulty 

generator control unit. EASA then 

revised AD No. 2011–0149 and issued 

AD 2011–0149R1 to allow an extended 

compliance time for helicopters 

modified in accordance with the ECD 

ASB. 

Comments 

We gave the public the opportunity to 

participate in developing this AD, but 

we did not receive any comments on the 

NPRM (77 FR 30230, May 22, 2012). 

FAA’s Determination 

These helicopters have been approved 

by the aviation authority of Germany 

and are approved for operation in the 

United States. Pursuant to our bilateral 

agreement with Germany, EASA, its 

technical representative, has notified us 

of the unsafe condition described in the 

EASA AD. We are issuing this AD 

because we evaluated all information 

provided by EASA and determined the 

unsafe condition exists and is likely to 

exist or develop on other helicopters of 

these same type designs and that air 

safety and the public interest require 

adopting the AD requirements as 

proposed. 

Differences Between This AD and the 

EASA AD 

The EASA AD allows a compliance 

time of 1,500 flight hours for helicopters 

previously modified by ECD ASB MBB 

BK117 C–2–24A–008 Revision 1, while 

this AD requires compliance within the 

next 300 hours TIS or 6 months, 

whichever occurs first, for all affected 

helicopters. 

Related Service Information 

ECD has issued ASB MBB–BK117 C– 

2–24A–010 Revision 2, dated September 

14, 2011, which specifies removing any 

GCU with P/N 51530–021EI with no 

modification (MOD), MOD A, or MOD 

B, and replacing it with a GCU P/N 

51530–021EI MOD C or later MOD. 

EASA classified this ASB as mandatory 

and issued AD 2011–0149R1 to ensure 

the continued airworthiness of these 

helicopters. 

Costs of Compliance 

We estimate that this AD will affect 

104 helicopters of U.S. Registry. We 

estimate that operators may incur the 

following costs in order to comply with 

this AD. Replacing a GCU with an 

airworthy GCU will require about 2 

work hours at an average labor rate of 

$85 per hour. Required parts will cost 

$7,130, for a total cost per helicopter of 

$7,300. 

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. 

We are 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 

helicopters identified in this rulemaking 

action. 

Regulatory Findings 

This AD will not have federalism 

implications under Executive Order 

13132. This AD will 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 that this AD: 

(1) Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ under Executive Order 12866; 

(2) Is not a ‘‘significant rule’’ under 

DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures 

(44 FR 11034, February 26, 1979); 

(3) Will not affect intrastate aviation 

in Alaska to the extent that it justifies 

making a regulatory distinction; and 

(4) Will not have a significant 

economic impact, positive or negative, 

on a substantial number of small entities 

under the criteria of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. 

We prepared an economic evaluation 

of the estimated costs to comply with 

this AD and placed it in the AD docket. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39 

Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation 

safety, Incorporation by reference, 

Safety. 

Adoption of the Amendment 

Accordingly, under the authority 

delegated to me by the Administrator, 

the FAA amends 14 CFR part 39 as 

follows: 

PART 39—AIRWORTHINESS 

DIRECTIVES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 39 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701. 

§ 39.13 [Amended] 

■ 2. The FAA amends § 39.13 by adding 

the following new airworthiness 

directive (AD): 

2012–23–05 Eurocopter Deutschland 

GMBH: Amendment 39–17261; Docket 

No. FAA–2012–0528; Directorate 

Identifier 2011–SW–068–AD. 

(a) Applicability 

This AD applies to Model MBB–BK117 C– 

2 helicopters with a generator control unit 

(GCU), part number (P/N) 51530–021EI with 

no modification (MOD), MOD A, or MOD B 

installed, certificated in any category. 

(b) Unsafe Condition 

This AD defines the unsafe condition as an 

internal short circuit in certain GCUs. This 

condition could result in loss of electrical 

generating power, resulting in the loss of 

systems required for continued safe flight 

and landing, and subsequent loss of control 

of the helicopter. 

(c) Effective Date 

This AD becomes effective December 26, 

2012. 

(d) Compliance 

You are responsible for performing each 

action required by this AD within the 

specified compliance time unless it has 

already been accomplished prior to that time. 

(e) Required Actions 

(1) Within the next 300 hours time-inservice or 6 months, whichever occurs first, 

replace all GCUs with no MOD, MOD A, or 

MOD B with an airworthy GCU. 


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(2) Do not install a GCU P/N 51530–021– 

EI with no MOD, MOD A, or MOD B on any 

helicopter. 

(f) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(1) The Manager, Safety Management 

Group, FAA, may approve AMOCs for this 

AD. Send your proposal to: George Schwab, 

Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, Rotorcraft 

Directorate, Safety Management Group, 2601 

Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76137; 

telephone (817) 222–5114; email 

george.schwab@faa.gov. 

(2) For operations conducted under a 14 

CFR part 119 operating certificate or under 

14 CFR part 91, subpart K, we suggest that 

you notify your principal inspector, or 

lacking a principal inspector, the manager of 

the local flight standards district office or 

certificate holding district office, before 

operating any aircraft complying with this 

AD through an AMOC. 

(g) Additional Information 

(1) Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH Alert 

Service Bulletin MBB–BK117 C–2–24A–010 

Revision 2, dated September 14, 2011, which 

is not incorporated by reference, contains 

additional information about the subject of 

this AD. 

(2) For service information identified in 

this AD, contact American Eurocopter 

Corporation, 2701 N. Forum Drive, Grand 

Prairie, TX 75052, telephone (972) 641–0000 

or (800) 232–0323, fax (972) 641–3775, or at 

http://www.eurocopter.com/techpub. You 

may review a copy of the service information 

at the FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel, 

Southwest Region, 2601 Meacham Blvd., 

Room 663, Fort Worth, Texas 76137. 

(3) The subject of this AD is addressed in 

European Aviation Safety Agency AD No. 

2011–0149R1, dated September 30, 2011. 

(h) Subject 

Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) 

Code: 2436: DC Generator Control Unit. 

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 30, 

2012. 

Kim Smith, 

Directorate Manager, Rotorcraft Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28039 Filed 11–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–1188; Directorate 

Identifier 2012–SW–049–AD; Amendment 

39–17254; AD 2012–10–53] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter 

Deutschland GmbH Helicopters 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for 

Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (ECD) 

Model EC135 P1, EC135 P2, EC135 P2+, 

EC135 T1, EC135 T2, and EC135 T2+ 

helicopters. This is the Federal Register 

publication of an Emergency AD (EAD) 

that was previously sent to all known 

owners and operators of these 

helicopters. That EAD superseded an 

earlier related EAD. This AD requires, 

before further flight and at specified 

intervals, checking and inspecting the 

upper and lower main rotor hub (MRH) 

shaft flanges for a crack, and inspecting 

the lower hub-shaft flange bolt 

attachment areas for a crack. This AD is 

prompted by three reported incidents of 

cracking on the lower hub-shaft flanges 

of EC135 model helicopters. These 

actions are intended to detect a crack on 

the hub-shaft flange, which if not 

corrected could result in failure of the 

MRH and subsequent loss of control of 

the helicopter. 

DATES: This AD becomes effective 

December 5, 2012 to all persons except 

those persons to whom it was made 

immediately effective by Emergency AD 

No. 2012–10–53, issued on May 18, 

2012, which contained the requirements 

of this AD. 

We must receive comments on this 

AD by January 22, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Docket: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Send comments to the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Docket 

Operations, M–30, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to the 

‘‘Mail’’ address between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in person at the 

Docket Operations Office between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD 

docket contains this AD, the economic 

evaluation, any comments received, and 

other information. The street address for 

the Docket Operations Office (telephone 

800–647–5527) is in the ADDRESSES

section. Comments will be available in 

the AD docket shortly after receipt. 

For service information identified in 

this AD, contact American Eurocopter 

Corporation, 2701 N. Forum Drive, 

Grand Prairie, Texas 75052; telephone 

(972) 641–0000 or (800) 232–0323; fax 

(972) 641–3775; or at http:// 

www.eurocopter.com/techpub. You may 

review the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Office of the 

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 

2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort 

Worth, Texas 76137. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary 

Roach, Aviation Safety Engineer, 

Regulations and Policy Group, 

Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 2601 

Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 

76137; telephone (817) 222–5110; email 

gary.b.roach@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

This AD is a final rule that involves 

requirements affecting flight safety, and 

we did not provide you with notice and 

an opportunity to provide your 

comments prior to it becoming effective. 

However, we invite you to participate in 

this rulemaking by submitting written 

comments, data, or views. We also 

invite comments relating to the 

economic, environmental, energy, or 

federalism impacts that resulted from 

adopting this AD. The most helpful 

comments reference a specific portion of 

the AD, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include 

supporting data. To ensure the docket 

does not contain duplicate comments, 

commenters should send only one copy 

of written comments, or if comments are 

filed electronically, commenters should 

submit them only one time. We will file 

in the docket all comments that we 

receive, as well as a report summarizing 

each substantive public contact with 

FAA personnel concerning this 

rulemaking during the comment period. 

We will consider all the comments we 

receive and may conduct additional 

rulemaking based on those comments. 

Discussion 

On May 15, 2012, we issued 

Emergency AD 2012–10–51 for the ECD 

Model EC135 series helicopters to detect 

a crack on the MRH shaft flange. 

Emergency AD 2012–10–51 required a 

pilot check of the lower MRH shaft 

flange for a crack or deformed blade 

attachment bolt safety pins before the 

first flight of each day, inspecting the 

upper and lower MRH shaft flanges for 

a crack within 5 hours time-in-service 

(TIS), and replacing the MRH shaft if 

there is a crack. 

After we issued Emergency AD 2012– 

10–51, the European Aviation Safety 


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