DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

### Federal Aviation Administntion 14 CFR Part 39 [Docket No. FAA-2012-0913; Directorate Identifier 2012-NE-23-ADI RIN 

### 2120-AA64 Airworthiness Directives; Hon eywell Inte rnati ona l Inc. Turboprop Eng in es AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). 

### [4910-13-Pl

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a ne w airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Honeywell Internat ional In c. TPE331-5, -5A , -5AB , -58 , -10 , -lOR , -IOU , -IOUF , -I OUG, -I OUGR, and -I OUR model turboprop engines. This propo sed AD was prompted by e n gi n e propeller shaft coupling failures, lead in g to unexpected propeller pitch changes

r es ulting in hi g h aerodynamic and asymmetric drag o n the airplanes using these eng in es . This proposed AD would require removing c e rtain part number (PIN) propeller s haft couplings from serv ic e . This proposed AD would also requ ire inserting a copy of Honeywell Internat ion a l In c. Operating Informati on Letter 01331-26, dated March 2 , 20 I 0 , into the applicable Airplane Flight Manuals. We are proposing this AD to prevent l oss of airplane control, le ad in g to an accident. DATES: We must receive comments on this proposed AD by [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF P UBLICAT ION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. ADDRESSES: You may se nd comments , u s in g the procedures found in 14 CFR ll.43 and I 1.45 , by any of the fo llowin g method s :
• Fed era l e Rulemaking Portal: Go to h ttp: //www.regulations.gov. Fo llo w the instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 202-493-2251.• Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation , Do cke t Op e ration s, M-30 , West Building Ground Fl oor, Room Wl2-140 , 1 200 New J e rsey Ave nu e SE

. , Washington , D C 20590.

• Hand De li ve ry: D e liv e r to Mail ad dre ss above between 9 a.m. a nd 5 p.m. , Monday thro u g h Friday , ex cept Federal holidays. For service in fo m1ation id e ntifi ed in thi s propose d A D , cont ac t Honeywell I nte rn at ional fn c., 1 I I S

. 34 111 Street, Ph oe nix , AZ 850 34-28 02 ; phon e: 800-60 1

- 3099 ; W e b si t e : http: //po rtal.honeywell.c o m. You may view thi s se r vice inf o rm a tion at the F AA , E ngine 

### & Pr ope ll e r Dire ctorate, 12 New England Execut i ve P ark , Burlington , M A. For information o n the ava ilability of thi s m ateria l at th e FAA, call 781- 23 8-7125. Exam i ni n g t h e AD Docket You m ay exa min e the AD docket o n th e I nternet a t http ://www. r egul ation s.gov by
sea r c hin g for and l oca tin g Dock et No. FAA-2012-0 9 1 3; o r in person at th e Docket Mana ge ment Facility b e tween 9 a. m. a nd 5 p.m. , Monday th r ough Frid ay, exce pt Fe d era l holid ays. The A D docket con tains thi s proposed AD , th e r eg ulatory eva lu a tion , any
comme nt s rece ived , and other information. The st r ee t address for th e D ocke t O ffice ( phon e : 800-647 -552 7) i s in the ADD RESSE S section

. Co mm e nt s w ill b e availa bl e in the AD docket s h o rt ly a fter receipt. FOR FURTHER INFORMAT ION CONTACT: Josep h Costa , Ae r os p ace Engin ee r. Lo s A n geles Aircraft Certification Office, FAA, Tra n spo rt A irpl ane Dir ec to rate, 3960 P a ra moun t B lvd. , Lakewoo d , CA 907 1 2- 4137 ; phon e: 562-62 7-5246 ; fax: 562-627-521 0 ;
e m a il: jo se ph.co s ta @ faa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY I NFO R MAT ION: Co mm e n ts In vite d We in v ite yo u to se nd an y written re levant data , v iews, or argumen t s abo u t thi s prop osa l. Send your co mm e nt s to an ad dress li ste d u n der th e A DD RESS E S sec ti o n. 2Includ e " Docket No. 

## r AA-2012-0913; Directorate Id enti fi er 20 12-N E-23-AD" at th e b eg inning of you r comment s . We spec ifically invite comments on th e ove rall regulatory, economic, environmental , and e ne rgy aspec ts of this proposed AD

. We will consider all comments r ece iv e d by the closin g date and may amend this proposed AD because of tho se comments. We w ill po s t all comme nt s we receive , witho u t change, to http: //www.regulations.gov , including any personal informat ion you provide. We will also post a report summariz in g each s ubstantive verbal co ntact we receive about this prop ose d A D. 

### D i scuss io n We hav e rec e iv ed numerous reports of propeller s haft couplings , PINs 3107065-1 and 865888-3, faili n g. Th ese p ropeller s h aft couplin gs ex perience fatigue cracks at the
corners of the lubrication slots that may result in separation and fragmentation of the propeller shaft coup I in g. That separation causes a s udd e n loss of dr ive torque from th e eng in e ' s power section to the propell e r shaft (called driv e tra in uncouplin g)

. After a d ri ve train unc oupli n g , the eng in e's fuel pump continu es to provide fuel to th e power section , and with n o propeller load a nd no engine control c hanges by th e pilot , the engin e power sec tion wi ll accelerate to the fuel control's overspced governor se t point. Even thou g h the propel ler drive i s uncoupled , the propell e r blade pitch is s till controlled by th e propeller governor. During this over s peed condition , th e propeller governor is designed to move the prop e ll e r blades toward higher pitch unti l full feather i s reached with th e prop e ll e r not rotating o r rotating very s lowly. Under ce rtain condit io n s the power sec ti on
w ill remai n at about I 04 % RPM with the propeller b la des in feather po s ition and the propeller not rotatin g or rotating very s low l y , until the e n g ine i s shut down by the pilot.

### Potenti a l U n sa f e Fai lure Scenarios Afte r a p ro p e ll e r s h aft dri vetra in un co up li ng , the speed o f th e e n g in e's p ower
sec tion may be re du ce d: (l) from full power, by the p il ot retardin g th e powe r lever to flight idl e, wh ich red u ces fuel to th e power sect io n ; (2) a t flight id le , because the fuel control reduces the fuel s uppl y to the p owe r sec tion a nd/ o r ; (3) by fragmentation o f th e propeller s h aft coup lin g and secondary damage to th e gears in the gea rb ox. If the
resu lt ing speed o f the power section fall s b e lo w th e propeller gove rn o r set point (set b y the pilot-controll e d co ndi t io n leve r ), th e p r opelle r gove rnor w ill move th e propelle r o u t of feather to a low-pitc h , hi gh

- drag po si ti o n. A lso , after a prop elle r shaft dri vet ra in uncoupling, a pilot reacting to the overspeed of the power sectio n ma y in advertently re tar d the power l ever to fli g ht idle. Doing so wi ll cause the propeller gove rnor to move the fea th e red propell e r to a low-pitch , hi g h-dra g condi tion. Several repo rt s du rin g mainte nan ce tes t fli g hts and in

- se r vice operations of tw in

e n gi ne a irpl anes have shown that inadverten t movement o f the prope ll er bl ade pitch to a low blade a n gle create a hi g h aerody n a mic an d asy mm e tric d rag wi th resulta n t
un com m ande d yaw a nd roll response o n th e a ir plane. Followin g thi s un ex pected yaw and
ro ll re s pon se , s ta bi 

### Iization a nd contro l of th e a irplane may range fro m unu s ua ll y difficult to catastrophi c, a nd pilot s may lack s uffi c ien t tim e to p rop e rl y assess th e e n g in e prob le m , initi ate an engine e m e rge nc y s hutdo w n , and act ivat e th e feather va lve . T he dri ve train un coup lin g eve n ts described prev iou s l y lead to loss o f th ru st , ca u se the prop e ll er blade p itc h to go to a low-blade ang le, a nd cr eate a hi g h ae r odynami c a nd asymme tri c drag o n th e a i rplane. Th e low-b lade angle may result i n loss of ai rpl ane contro l, leading to an accide nt. After a review o f abo ut 40 years o f Nat io n a l Tra n spo rtati o n Safety B oard fatal accide n t re p o rt s of multi-eng i ne a irplan es w ith TP E331
e ngin es, we determined th at certain ai rpl anes are more at risk by engi ne-fa ilur e eve n ts
4than others. Ther e fore , we are p r oposing co mpli a nce time s in this AD th at add ress th e ri sk b y a irpl ane aft e r a propeller sha ft coup li n g fai lure . 

### Relevant Service Information Allied-Signal Aerospace Company, Garrett Eng in e D ivis io n Service Bu ll etin No. T P £331-72-0873. Rev ision 1 , dated May 20, 1993 , describes procedures fo r rep lac i ng the affected P/Ns of propeller shaft coupli n gs w ith a defined redesigned propeller shaft coupling. H oneyw e ll Inte rn at io nal ln c. Ope r a ting In formati on Letter 0 133 1 -26 , dated March 2, 20 I 0, de sc ribes eme rgency procedures for aircrew if a prop e ll e r s haft coupling fai ls . 

### FAA's Determination W e a r c propo s ing thi s AD becau se we eva lu ated a ll the r e l

evant inf o rmation and determin e d the un sa f e co ndition d esc ribed pr ev iou sly i s like l y to ex i s t o r deve l o p in other products of th e sa me type design. 

### Propo se d AD Requirements Th is propo se d A D would r equ ire removing propeller shaft co uplin gs, PINs 31 07065-l , 865888-3, 865888-6 , and 865888-8, fro m serv ice. Thi s propo se d AD wou ld a lso req uire in sertin g a copy of H oneywe ll ln te rn ational In c. Op e ra t in g Inf o rm at io n Letter 01331-26 , dated March 2, 20 I 0, int o th e app l icable A irplane Flig h t Manual , Pilot Op e rat in g H andbook, or Manufacture r 's Operating Manual. 

### Costs of Compliance We est im ate that this proposed AD wo uld affec t 485 eng in es in s tall e d on
a ir p lanes ofU

. S. registry. We also est im a t e that it wou ld take about o ne ho ur per engine to perfom1 the ac ti ons required by thi s propo se d A D , i f done at next tu rbine hot sec ti on
sc heduled in spectio n , a nd 40 hours per e ngine if don e at an un sc hed ul e d access of the 5

### propell er s haft co uplin g . We also estimate that 400 e ngine s wo uld h ave the replacement actions don e at a sc he duled time of ne xt turbin e hot section in spec tion , a nd 85 e ngines would ha ve the rep lacement actions done at an un sc hedu l ed access of the propeller s h a ft
co uplin g. We al so es timate that the average labor rate is $85 pe r hour. Required parts woul d cost abou t $ 12 , 000 per eng i ne. Based on these figures , we est i mate th e tota l cost of the proposed AD to U.S. operators to be $6, 143,000

. A u t h o ri ty 

### fo •· t hi s R ul e m a kin g 

### Titl e 49 of th e U n ited States Code s p ec ifi es the FAA 's auth o rity to iss ue ru les on aviation safety. Subtitle 

## r, sectio n 106 , de sc ribes th e a uthori ty of the F /\A Ad mini strator. S ubtitl e V IT : Av iat ion Program s , desc ri bes in more d etail th e scope of the Age ncy's authority. We are issu in g th is ru lemaking und e r th e authority desc rib ed in S ubtitle VII , Part A , Subpart I ll , 

### Sec tion 4470 I : 

### " G e ne ra l r e quirements. " Und e r th a t sec tion , Congress
c harges th e 

## r AA with promoting safe fli ght of c ivi l aircraft in a ir commerce by prescribing regu lations for practices , method s, and procedures the Adm ini s trator fin ds necessary fo r safe ty in a ir commerce. This reg ul at io n is w ithin the sco pe of that authority becaus e it add r esses an unsafe condition th a t is like ly to e xi s t or develop on p r oducts identified in th is ru lc making action. R eg ul a t ory F indin gs 

### We d etermined that thi s p roposed 

### /\0 wo uld not have federalism imp li cations under Execu ti ve Order 1 3 1 32

. This proposed 

### AD wo uld not have a s ub s ta nti a l direct effect on the S tates, on the relationship between the national Go ve rnm e nt and the States , or on th e distribu tion of power and re s p o n s ibi liti es among th e various leve ls of governme nt. For th e reasons discussed above , I 

### cert ify this proposed regulation: (1) I s not a ·'s i gn ifi cant regulatory ac ti on " under Executive Order 12866 , 

### 6(2) Is not a ·'significant rule " under th e DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 FR I I 034 , February 26, 1979), (3) Will not affect intr as tate aviatio n in A laska to the ex t ent that it justifi es making a regulatory distinction , and (4) W ill no t have a s ignifi cant econom ic impact , positive o r negative , on a
s ub stantial numb e r of small entities under the criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 

### 39 Air tra n spo rta ti on, Aircraft , Av iat ion safe t y, Incorporati on by refe r e nc e, Safety. The Proposed Amendment Accord i ngl y, under the aut hority d e lega ted to me by the Administrator, the FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR pa1t 39 as follows: PART 

### 39- AIRWORTHINESS DIR ECT IVES 1. The author ity c itation for pa rt 39 co nt inues to read as follows : Authority: 49 U.S

. C

. 106(g) , 40113,44701. 

### § 39.13 [Am e nded! 2. The FAA ame nd s§ 39.13 by adding th e fo ll owing new airworth in ess directive (AD): Honey welllnte m a tionallnc. (Ty p e Ce rtificate previou s ly held b y AlliedSignallnc., Garrett E n g in e Divi s ion ; Garrett Turbine Engine Company; and AiResearch Manufacturing Co mpan y of Arizona): Docke t No. F AA-2012-0913; Directorate ldentifier 20 12-NE-23-AO. (a) Comments Due Date We mu s t rece ive comments by ( I NSERT DATE 60 DAY S AFTE R D ATE OF PUBLIC AT ION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. ( b) Affected ADs None. 7

### (c) Applicability This AD app li es to Honeywell Inte rn at ional I nc. TPE331-5 , -SA, -5AB , - 58, -10, -I OR , -1 OU, -1 OUF , - 1 OUG , -1 OUGR , and

- 1 OUR model turboprop eng ines , with a propeller shafl coup lin g , part number (P / N) 3 1 07065

- 1 , 865888-3 , 865888-6, or 865888- 8 , installed. 

### ( d) U n sa fe Co ndition This AD was prompted by e n gi n e propeller shaft coupling f ailures leadi ng to
u n expected prope ll er p itch changes r esu ltin g in hi gh ae rodynami c a nd asym metric drag
on th e airplanes u s ing these engines. We are issuing this AD to p revent loss of airp lan e contro l , leading to an accident. 

### (c) Compliance Comply w ith this AD withi n the compliance times spec ified, unl ess a lready done. 

### (1) Engines In stall e d In Mitsubi s hi MU-2B Series (MU-2 Series) Airplanes Remove from serv ice th e affected propeller shaft coupling at the earliest of the following: ( i) Next piece-part exposure ; or (ii) Nex t turbine ( hot ) section insp e ct i on ( H S I ); or (iii) B efore acc umulating a n add it iona l I , 200 cycles after the ef f ec tiv e date of this AD. 

### ( 2 ) E n g in es In st alled In Co n struccion es Aero n a u t ic as, S

. A. (CASA) C-2 12 Series, a nd Twin Co mm a nder 690 and 695 Seri es (Jet prop Co mm an d er) A irplane s Remov e from se rv ic e the affected propeller shaft coupling at the earli est of the followi n g: (i) Next piece-part exposure; or ( ii ) Next turb ine HSI; or (iii) Befor e accumu lating an additional 2 ,400 cyc les afte r the eff e ctive date of thi s 

### AD. 

### 8

### (3) E n g in es In s t a ll ed In B ri t is h Ae r os p a c e Je tstr ea m 3 101 Se ri es, Do rni e r Luft fa h r t Dorn ier 2 28 Seri es, a nd M 7 (fo rm e rly Fa irchild , Swea rin ge n ) SA226 a nd SA227 Series Air pl a n es , a nd All Oth er Ai rp l a n es No t Li s ted in th is A D Us in g Affecte d E n g in es Remove fro m servic e the affected propell e r s haft cou pling at the ea rli est of th e following: (i ) Next piece-part exposure ; or ( ii ) Next turbine H S T ; or (iii) Before acc umulating an ad ditiona l 

### 3,600 cycles after th e effect ive date of this AD. 

### (4) In se rtin g a Co py of Ho n eywe ll In te rn a t io n a l In c. Operatin g In fo rm ati o n Letter in to t h e FAA

- App rove d F li g h t Man u a l Within 

### 60 days after the e1Tective date of thi s AD , for a irp l anes wi th e ngine prop e ller shaft coupling , PIN 

### 3107065-1 , 865888-3 , 865888

- 6 , o r 

### 865888-8 , in stalled , in s er t a copy of Ho neywell Internationa l Inc. Operating Infonnation Letter 

### 0 13 3 1-26 , dated March 2, 20 I 0 , into the Emergency Procedures Section of th e applicab le Airp lane Flight Manual , P il o t Operatin g Handbook , or Manufacturer's Op e rat in g Manual. (f) 

### Defi nit io n Fo r the purpose of this AD , n e x t piece-part expo s ure is when the nose cone asse mb ly i s re mo ved from the engine. 

### (g) I nsta ll ati o n Pro hi b ition After the eff e ct ive date of thi s AD , do not in s tall a n y propeller shaft cou plin g , P / N 

### 3 107065

- I, 

### 865888- 3, 865888-6 , or 

### 865888

- 8 , into a ny engine. 

### ( h ) Alterna ti ve Met h ods of Co mpli a n ce (AMOCs) The Manager , Los Angeles Airc raft Certifi cation Office, FAA , may approve AMOCs for thi s AD. Use the proc edu r es found in 

### 14 CF R 

### 39.19 to m a ke yo ur reque s t.



### 9(i) Related Inform at io n (I) For more information about thi s AD, contac t J ose ph Costa , Aerospace E n g ine e r , Los Ange les Airc raft Certificatio n Offic e , FAA, Transport Airplane Dir ec torate , 3960 Paramount Blvd. , Lakewood, CA 907 12-4137; phone: 562-627 -5 246; fax: 562-62 7-521 0 ; ema il: jo seph.costa @ faa.gov

. (2) All ie d- S ig n a l Aerospace Co mpan y Service Bulletin No. TP E33 1-72-087 3. R ev is io n 1 , dated May 20, 1993 , addresses acceptable replacement part s , a nd other info rm a tion perta inin g to the subject of th is A D. (3) For ser v ice information identifi e d in thi s AD , co ntact Hon eywe ll International In c . , 

### 1 1 1 S. 34 1 11 Street , Phoenix , AZ 85034

- 2802; phon e: 800-60 1- 3099; Web site: http: //portal.honeywell.com. (4) You may view this service inf o rmation at th e fAA , Engin e 

### & Prop e ller Di rec torate, 1 2 New Eng land Execu t ive Park , Burl in gton , MA. Fo r i nformation on th e availab ilit y of thi s m a terial at the FA A, ca ll 781-2 38-7125.

Iss u ed in Burlingt o n , Mas sachu se tts , o n May 6 , 2014.

Co ll ee n M. D ' A lessand ro , Assistant Dir ec torat e Manager, Engine 

### & Propeller Directo rate, Ai rc raft Certificat io n Service.

10