This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

16022 

Vol. 75, No. 61 

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2009–0982; Directorate 

Identifier 2009–NE–19–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Turbomeca 

S.A. MAKILA 1A and 1A1 Turboshaft 

Engines 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for the 

products listed above. This proposed 

AD results from mandatory continuing 

airworthiness information (MCAI) 

issued by an aviation authority of 

another country to identify and correct 

an unsafe condition on an aviation 

product. The MCAI describes the unsafe 

condition as: The installation of TU250 

CS boards, however, has resulted in a 

few occurrences of erratic engine 

behaviour, in the form of unexpected N1 

variations and/or illumination of the 

‘‘GOV’’ warning light. The conclusions 

from an investigation by Turbome ́ca are 

that these malfunctions are due to a 

lapse of quality control in the 

varnishing process applied to the 

boards, and that only boards in a 

specific serial number range, as defined 

under ‘‘Applicability’’ and referred to 

below as the ‘‘suspect batch,’’ are 

affected. 

We are proposing this AD to prevent 

loss of automatic engine control during 

flight due to an uncommanded engine 

roll-back, which could result in the 

inability to continue safe flight. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by April 30, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail 

address above between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

Contact Turbomeca, 40220 Tarnos, 

France; telephone 33 05 59 74 40 00; fax 

33 05 59 74 45 15, for the service 

information identified in this proposed 

AD. 

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 proposed AD, the 

regulatory evaluation, any comments 

received, and other information. The 

street address for the Docket Operations 

office (telephone (800) 647–5527) is the 

same as the Mail address provided in 

the ADDRESSES section. Comments will 

be available in the AD docket shortly 

after receipt. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin Dickert, Aerospace Engineer, 

Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine 

and Propeller Directorate, 12 New 

England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 

01803; e-mail: kevin.dickert@faa.gov; 

telephone (781) 238–7117, fax (781) 

238–7199. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to send any written 

relevant data, views, or arguments about 

this proposed AD. Send your comments 

to an address listed under the 

ADDRESSES section. Include ‘‘Docket No. 

FAA–2009–0982; Directorate Identifier 

2009–NE–19–AD’’ at the beginning of 

your comments. We specifically invite 

comments on the overall regulatory, 

economic, environmental, and energy 

aspects of this proposed AD. We will 

consider all comments received by the 

closing date and may amend this 

proposed AD based on those comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. We 

will also post a report summarizing each 

substantive verbal contact with FAA 

personnel concerning this proposed AD. 

Using the search function of the Web 

site, anyone can find and read the 

comments in any of our dockets, 

including, if provided, the name of the 

individual who sent the comment (or 

signed the comment on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review the DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 

Register published on April 11, 2000 

(65 FR 19477–78). 

Discussion 

The European Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA), which is the Technical Agent 

for the Member States of the European 

Community, has issued EASA 

Airworthiness Directive 2009–0090, 

dated April 28, 2009 (referred to after 

this as ‘‘the MCAI’’), to correct an unsafe 

condition for the specified products. 

The MCAI states: 

The installation of TU250 CS boards, 

however, has resulted in a few occurrences 

of erratic engine behaviour, in the form of 

unexpected N1 variations and/or 

illumination of the ‘‘GOV’’ warning light. The 

conclusions from an investigation by 

Turbomeca are that these malfunctions are 

due to a lapse of quality control in the 

varnishing process applied to the boards, and 

that only boards in a specific serial number 

range, as defined under ‘‘Applicability’’ and 

referred to below as the ‘‘suspect batch,’’ are 

affected. 

You may obtain further information by 

examining the MCAI in the AD docket. 

Relevant Service Information 

Turbomeca S.A. has issued 

Mandatory Service Bulletins No. 298 73 

0809, Version A, dated February 12, 

2008; and No. 298 73 0810, Version B, 

dated April 27, 2009. The actions 

described in this service information are 

intended to correct the unsafe condition 

identified in the MCAI. 

FAA’s Determination and Requirements 

of This Proposed AD 

This product has been approved by 

the aviation authority of France, and is 

approved for operation in the United 

States. Pursuant to our bilateral 

agreement with France, they have 

notified us of the unsafe condition 

described in the MCAI and service 

information referenced above. We are 

proposing this AD because we evaluated 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 31, 2010 / Proposed Rules 16023 

all information provided by EASA and 

determined the unsafe condition exists 

and is likely to exist or develop on other 

products of the same type design. 

Costs of Compliance 

Based on the service information, we 

estimate that this proposed AD would 

affect about 10 products of U.S. registry. 

We also estimate that it would take 

about 1 work-hour per product to 

comply with this proposed AD. The 

average labor rate is $85 per work-hour. 

Required parts would cost about $3,500 

per product. Based on these figures, we 

estimate the cost of the proposed AD on 

U.S. operators to be $35,850. 

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 

products identified in this rulemaking 

action. 

Regulatory Findings 

We 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. Is not a ‘‘significant rule’’ under the 

DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures 

(44 FR 11034, February 26, 1979); and 

3. 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 a regulatory evaluation 

of the estimated costs to comply with 

this proposed 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. 

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 

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 AD: 

Turbomeca S.A.: Docket No. FAA–2009– 

0982; Directorate Identifier 2009–NE– 

19–AD. 

Comments Due Date 

(a) We must receive comments by April 30, 

2010. 

Affected Airworthiness Directives (ADs) 

(b) None. 

Applicability 

(c) This AD applies to Turbomeca S.A. 

Makila 1A and 1A1 turboshaft engines with 

a comparator/selector (CS) board, part 

number (P/N) 0 177 99 716 0, and a serial 

number (S/N) between 241EL and 1192EL 

(inclusive) installed. These engines are 

installed on, but not limited to, Eurocopter 

AS 332 C, AS 332 C1, AS 332 L, and AS 332 

L1 helicopters. 

Reason 

(d) The EASA AD 2009–0090, dated April 

28, 2009, states that this AD results from the 

following: 

(1) The installation of TU250 CS boards, 

however, has resulted in a few occurrences 

of erratic engine behaviour, in the form of 

unexpected N1 variations and/or 

illumination of the ‘‘GOV’’ warning light. The 

conclusions from an investigation by 

Turbome ́ca are that these malfunctions are 

due to a lapse of quality control in the 

varnishing process applied to the boards, and 

that only boards in a specific serial number 

range, as defined under ‘‘Applicability’’ and 

referred to below as the ‘‘suspect batch’’, are 

affected. 

(2) We are issuing this AD to prevent loss 

of automatic engine control during flight due 

to an uncommanded engine roll-back, which 

could result in the inability to continue safe 

flight. 

Actions and Compliance 

(e) Unless already done, do the following 

actions. 

(1) Within 50 operating hours from the 

effective date of this AD, replace any CS 

board, P/N 0 177 99 716 0, with an S/N from 

241EL to 1192EL (inclusive), that has fewer 

than 200 hours-since-new (HSN). Use 

paragraph 2 of Turbomeca S.A. Mandatory 

Service Bulletin (MSB) No. 298 73 0809 

Version A, dated February 12, 2008, to 

replace the boards. 

(2) During the next 500-hour inspection, 

replace any CS board, P/N 0 177 99 716 0, 

with a S/N from 241EL to 1192EL (inclusive), 

that has 200 HSN or more. Use paragraph 2 

of Turbomeca S.A. MSB No. 298 73 0810 

Version B, dated April 27, 2009, to replace 

the boards. 

FAA AD Differences 

(f) This AD differs from the Mandatory 

Continuing Airworthiness Information 

(MCAI) and/or service information as 

follows: 

(1) This AD requires replacing within 50 

operating hours after the effective date of this 

AD, all comparator/selector boards, P/N 0 

177 99 716 0, with an S/N from 241EL to 

1192EL (inclusive) that have fewer than 200 

HSN. 

(2) This AD requires replacing at the next 

500-hour routine inspection after the 

effective date of this AD, all comparator/ 

selector boards, P/N 0 177 99 716 0, with a 

S/N from 241EL to 1192EL (inclusive) that 

have 200 HSN or more. 

Other FAA AD Provisions 

(g) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs): The Manager, Engine Certification 

Office, FAA, has the authority to approve 

AMOCs for this AD, if requested using the 

procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. 

Related Information 

(h) Refer to MCAI EASA Airworthiness 

Directive 2009–0090, dated April 28, 2009, 

and Turbomeca S.A. Mandatory Service 

Bulletins No. 298 73 0809, Version A, dated 

February 12, 2008; and No. 298 73 0810, 

Version B, dated April 27, 2009, for related 

information. Contact Turbomeca, 40220 

Tarnos, France; telephone 33 05 59 74 40 00; 

fax 33 05 59 74 45 15, for a copy of this 

service information. 

(i) Contact Kevin Dickert, Aerospace 

Engineer, Engine Certification Office, FAA, 

Engine and Propeller Directorate, 12 New 

England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 

01803; e-mail: kevin.dickert@faa.gov; 

telephone (781) 238–7117, fax (781) 238– 

7199, for more information about this AD. 

Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts, on 

March 19, 2010. 

Peter A. White, 

Assistant Manager, Engine and Propeller 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–7160 Filed 3–30–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 


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