Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Proposed Rules 12125 

the agency provides assignment rights 

under this part by: 

(1) Determining the representative 

rate of positions not covered by a pay 

band consistent with § 351.203; 

(2) Determining the representative 

rate of each pay band, or competitive 

level within the pay band(s), consistent 

with § 351.203; 

(3) As determined by the agency, 

providing assignment rights under 

paragraph (b) of this section (bumping), 

or paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section 

(retreating), consistent with the grade 

intervals covered in paragraphs (b)(2) 

and (c)(2) of this section, and the pay 

band intervals in paragraph (h) of this 

section. 

[FR Doc. E7–4701 Filed 3–14–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–39–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2007–27560; Directorate 

Identifier 2006–NM–211–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Boeing 

Model 757–200, –200PF, and –200CB 

Series Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a 

new airworthiness directive (AD) for 

certain Boeing Model 757–200, –200PF, 

and –200CB series airplanes. This 

proposed AD would require inspections 

to detect scribe lines and cracks of the 

fuselage skin, lap joints, circumferential 

butt splice strap, and external and 

internal approved repairs; and related 

investigative/corrective actions if 

necessary. This proposed AD results 

from reports of scribe lines adjacent to 

the skin lap joints. We are proposing 

this AD to detect and correct cracks, 

which could grow and cause rapid 

decompression of the airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by April 30, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Use one of the following 

addresses to submit comments on this 

proposed AD. 

• DOT Docket Web site: Go to http:// 

dms.dot.gov and follow the instructions 

for sending your comments 

electronically. 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 

room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Contact Boeing Commercial 

Airplanes, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, 

Washington 98124–2207, for the service 

information identified in this proposed 

AD. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dennis Stremick, Aerospace Engineer, 

Airframe Branch, ANM–120S, FAA, 

Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, 

1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, 

Washington 98057–3356; telephone 

(425) 917–6450; fax (425) 917–6590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to submit any relevant 

written data, views, or arguments 

regarding this proposed AD. Send your 

comments to an address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section. Include the docket 

number ‘‘FAA–2007–27560; Directorate 

Identifier 2006–NM–211–AD’’ at the 

beginning of your comments. We 

specifically invite comments on the 

overall regulatory, economic, 

environmental, and energy aspects of 

the proposed AD. We will consider all 

comments received by the closing date 

and may amend the proposed AD in 

light of those comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

dms.dot.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 that Web 

site, anyone can find and read the 

comments in any of our dockets, 

including 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 DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78), or you may visit http:// 

dms.dot.gov. 

Examining the Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, or in 

person at the Docket Management 

Facility office between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. The Docket 

Management Facility office (telephone 

(800) 647–5227) is located on the plaza 

level of the Nassif Building at the DOT 

street address stated in the ADDRESSES

section. Comments will be available in 

the AD docket shortly after the Docket 

Management System receives them. 

Discussion 

We have received reports of scribe 

lines found adjacent to the skin lap 

joints on Model 757–200 airplanes. The 

scribe lines appear to have been made 

on the skin when sealant was removed 

as part of preparation of the airplane for 

repainting. The airplanes had between 

13,300 and 16,800 flight cycles. 

Although no cracks as a result of scribe 

lines have been reported on Model 757 

airplanes, scribe lines have caused 

cracks on other airplanes. Undetected 

cracking, if not corrected, could grow 

and result in rapid decompression. 

Related AD 

This proposed AD is similar to AD 

2006–07–12, amendment 39–14539 (71 

FR 16211), March 31, 2006. That AD 

applies to all Boeing Model 737–100, 

–200, –200C, –300, –400, and –500 

series airplanes. That AD requires a onetime inspection for scribe lines and 

cracks in the fuselage skin at certain lap 

joints, butt joints, external repair 

doublers, and other areas; and related 

investigative/corrective actions if 

necessary. That AD resulted from 

reports of fuselage skin cracks adjacent 

to the skin lap joints on airplanes that 

had scribe lines. 

Relevant Service Information 

We have reviewed Boeing Alert 

Service Bulletin 757–53A0092, Revision 

1, dated January 10, 2007. The service 

bulletin describes procedures for 

removing paint and sealant at the 

applicable zonal locations, and doing 

detailed inspections to detect scribe 

lines and cracks of the fuselage skin, lap 

joints, circumferential butt splice strap, 

and external and internal approved 

repairs. The service bulletin specifies 

repairing scribe lines before further 

flight, except when a limited return to 

service (LRTS) program for qualifying 

scribe lines would allow return to 

service for a limited period before scribe 

lines are repaired. 

The LRTS program includes repetitive 

inspections to detect cracks where 

scribe lines were found. To qualify for 

an LRTS program, a scribe line must 

meet certain criteria including the total 

flight cycles on the airplane, and the 

location and extent of the scribe lines. 


rmajette on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS
12126 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

The service bulletin specifies contacting 

Boeing for final repair instructions for 

the LRTS program, which would 

eliminate the need for the repetitive 

inspections of the LRTS program. The 

repetitive intervals for the LRTS 

program range from 1,500 to 8,000 flight 

cycles, depending on the location of the 

scribe lines and the configuration of the 

airplane. 

Each piece of structure susceptible to 

a scribe line is assigned to a zone. Based 

on criticality of location, the service 

bulletin addresses the most critical areas 

(zones) first and appropriately reduces 

the compliance requirements for less 

critical areas. The service bulletin has 

specific instructions for calculating 

separate inspection thresholds. These 

thresholds are based on (1) fatigue life 

for the identified zonal locations and (2) 

potential scribe line opportunities in an 

airplane’s maintenance history. The 

compliance times for inspecting are 

20,000 flight cycles (Zone 1) and 30,000 

flight cycles (Zone 2) after the first 

scribe opportunity. If a maintenance 

records-based threshold program is not 

used, however, the service bulletin 

specifies 6,000 flight cycles as the first 

scribe opportunity. Since a scribe line 

can occur at any time during the service 

life of an airplane and at many 

locations, the service bulletin uses both 

total flight cycles and structural 

criticality of locations to determine the 

inspection requirements. 

FAA’s Determination and Requirements 

of the Proposed AD 

We have evaluated all pertinent 

information and identified an unsafe 

condition that is likely to exist or 

develop on other airplanes of this same 

type design. For this reason, we are 

proposing this AD, which would require 

accomplishing the actions specified in 

the service information described 

previously, except as discussed below. 

Differences Between the Proposed AD 

and Service Information 

The service bulletin specifies to 

contact the manufacturer for 

instructions on how to repair certain 

conditions, but this proposed AD would 

require repairing those conditions by 

using a method that we approve, or by 

using data that meet the certification 

basis of the airplane, and that have been 

approved by an Authorized 

Representative for the Boeing 

Commercial Airplanes Delegation 

Option Authorization Organization 

whom we have authorized to make 

those findings. 

The service bulletin specifies 

compliance times relative to the date of 

issuance of the service bulletin; 

however, this proposed AD would 

require compliance before the specified 

compliance time relative to the effective 

date of the AD. 

Costs of Compliance 

There are about 945 airplanes of the 

affected design in the worldwide fleet; 

of these, about 634 are U.S.-registered 

airplanes. The following table provides 

the estimated costs for U.S. operators to 

comply with this proposed AD. There 

are no U.S.-registered airplanes in 

Group 5 or Group 6. 

ESTIMATED COSTS

Inspections Work hours Average labor 

rate per hour 

Cost per 

airplane 

Number of 

U.S.-registered 

airplanes 

Fleet cost 

Group 1 ................................................................................ 127 $80 $10,160 144 $1,463,040 

Group 2 ................................................................................ 122 80 9,760 6 58,560 

Group 3 ................................................................................ 154 80 12,320 75 924,000 

Group 4 ................................................................................ 128 80 10,240 409 4,188,160 

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 have 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 that the 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. See the ADDRESSES section 

for a location to examine the regulatory 

evaluation. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39 

Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation 

safety, 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 Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) amends § 39.13 

by adding the following new 

airworthiness directive (AD): 

Boeing: Docket No. FAA–2007–27560; 

Directorate Identifier 2006–NM–211–AD. 

Comments Due Date 

(a) The FAA must receive comments on 

this AD action by April 30, 2007. 


rmajette on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Proposed Rules 12127 

Affected ADs 

(b) None. 

Applicability 

(c) This AD applies to Boeing Model 757–

200, –200PF, and –200CB series airplanes, 

certificated in any category; as identified in 

Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 757–53A0092, 

Revision 1, dated January 10, 2007. 

Unsafe Condition 

(d) This AD results from reports of scribe 

lines adjacent to the fuselage skin lap joints. 

We are issuing this AD to detect and correct 

cracks, which could grow and cause rapid 

decompression of the airplane. 

Compliance 

(e) You are responsible for having the 

actions required by this AD performed within 

the compliance times specified, unless the 

actions have already been done. 

Inspections 

(f) Perform detailed inspections to detect 

scribe lines and cracks of the fuselage skin, 

lap joints, circumferential butt splice strap, 

and external and internal approved repairs; 

and perform related investigative and 

corrective actions. Do the actions in 

accordance with the Accomplishment 

Instructions of Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 

757–53A0092, Revision 1, dated January 10, 

2007, except as required by paragraph (g) of 

this AD. Do the actions within the applicable 

compliance times specified in paragraph 1.E. 

of the service bulletin, except as required by 

paragraph (h) of this AD. 

Exceptions to Service Bulletin Specifications 

(g) Where Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 

757–53A0092, Revision 1, dated January 10, 

2007, specifies to contact Boeing for 

appropriate repair instructions, repair using 

a method approved in accordance with the 

procedures specified in paragraph (j) of this 

AD. 

(h) Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 757–

53A0092, Revision 1, dated January 10, 2007, 

specifies compliance times relative to the 

date of issuance of the service bulletin; 

however, this proposed AD would require 

compliance before the specified compliance 

time relative to the effective date of the AD. 

Credit for Prior Accomplishment 

(i) Inspections done before the effective 

date of this AD in accordance with Boeing 

Alert Service Bulletin 757–53A0092, dated 

September 18, 2006, are acceptable for 

compliance with the corresponding 

requirements of paragraph (f) of this AD. 

Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(j)(1) The Manager, Seattle Aircraft 

Certification Office (ACO), FAA, has the 

authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if 

requested in accordance with the procedures 

found in 14 CFR 39.19. 

(2) Before using any AMOC approved in 

accordance with § 39.19 on any airplane to 

which the AMOC applies, notify the 

appropriate principal inspector in the FAA 

Flight Standards Certificate Holding District 

Office. 

(3) An AMOC that provides an acceptable 

level of safety may be used for any repair 

required by this AD, if it is approved by an 

Authorized Representative for the Boeing 

Commercial Airplanes Delegation Option 

Authorization Organization who has been 

authorized by the Manager, Seattle ACO, to 

make those findings. For a repair method to 

be approved, the repair must meet the 

certification basis of the airplane. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 1, 

2007. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–4742 Filed 3–14–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2007–27565; Directorate 

Identifier 2006–NM–215–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Model 

A330 and A340–200 Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to 

supersede an existing airworthiness 

directive (AD) that applies to certain 

Airbus Model A330–200, A330–300, 

A340–200, and A340–300 series 

airplanes; and Model A340–541 and 

–642 airplanes. The existing AD 

currently requires repetitively resetting 

the display units (DUs) for the 

electronic instrument system (EIS), 

either by switching them off and back 

on again or by performing a complete 

electrical shutdown of the airplane. This 

proposed AD would require installing 

new software, which would end the 

actions required by the existing AD. 

This proposed AD also would add 

additional airplanes that may be placed 

on the U.S. Register in the future. This 

proposed AD results from an incident in 

which all of the DUs for the EIS went 

blank simultaneously during flight. We 

are proposing this AD to prevent 

automatic reset of the DUs for the EIS 

during flight and consequent loss of 

data from the DUs, which could reduce 

the ability of the flightcrew to control 

the airplane during adverse flight 

conditions. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by April 16, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Use one of the following 

addresses to submit comments on this 

proposed AD. 

• DOT Docket Web site: Go to 

http://dms.dot.gov and follow the 

instructions for sending your comments 

electronically. 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 

Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Contact Airbus, 1 Rond Point Maurice 

Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac Cedex, France, 

for service information identified in this 

proposed AD. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim 

Backman, Aerospace Engineer, 

International Branch, ANM–116, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA, 

1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, 

Washington 98057–3356; telephone 

(425) 227–2797; fax (425) 227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite you to submit any relevant 

written data, views, or arguments 

regarding this proposed AD. Send your 

comments to an address listed in the 

ADDRESSES section. Include the docket 

number ‘‘Docket No. FAA–2007–27565; 

Directorate Identifier 2006–NM–215–

AD’’ at the beginning of your comments. 

We specifically invite comments on the 

overall regulatory, economic, 

environmental, and energy aspects of 

the proposed AD. We will consider all 

comments received by the closing date 

and may amend the proposed AD in 

light of those comments. 

We will post all comments we 

receive, without change, to http:// 

dms.dot.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 that Web 

site, anyone can find and read the 

comments in any of our dockets, 

including 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), or you may visit http:// 

dms.dot.gov. 


rmajette on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS