71734 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

777–54–0028, dated May 25, 2012, specifies 

a compliance time of ‘‘within 25 flight-cycles 

or 10 days, whichever occurs first,’’ this AD 

requires compliance within 25 flight cycles 

or 10 days after the most recent inspection 

required by paragraph (g) of this AD, 

whichever occurs first. 

(i) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(1) The Manager, Seattle Aircraft 

Certification Office (ACO), FAA, has the 

authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if 

requested using the procedures found in 14 

CFR 39.19. In accordance with 14 CFR 39.19, 

send your request to your principal inspector 

or local Flight Standards District Office, as 

appropriate. If sending information directly 

to the manager of the ACO, send it to the 

attention of the person identified in the 

Related Information section of this AD. 

Information may be emailed to: 9–ANM– 

Seattle–ACO–AMOC–Requests@faa.gov. 

(2) Before using any approved AMOC, 

notify your appropriate principal inspector, 

or lacking a principal inspector, the manager 

of the local flight standards district office/ 

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 the 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Organization 

Designation Authorization (ODA) that 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, and the 

approval must specifically refer to this AD. 

(j) Related Information 

(1) For more information about this AD, 

contact Kevin Nguyen, Aerospace Engineer, 

Propulsion Branch, ANM–140S, FAA, Seattle 

Aircraft Certification Office, 1601 Lind 

Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057–3356; 

phone: 425–917–6501; fax: 425–917–6590; 

email: kevin.nguyen@faa.gov. 

(2) For service information identified in 

this AD, contact Boeing Commercial 

Airplanes, Attention: Data & Services 

Management, P. O. Box 3707, MC 2H–65, 

Seattle, WA 98124–2207; telephone 206– 

544–5000, extension 1; fax 206–766–5680; 

Internet https://www.myboeingfleet.com. You 

may review copies of the referenced service 

information at the FAA, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, 

WA. For information on the availability of 

this material at the FAA, call 425–227–1221. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

November 21, 2012. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–29177 Filed 12–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 71 

Proposed Modification of the Miami, 

FL, Class B Airspace Area; and the Ft 

Lauderdale, FL, Class C Airspace Area; 

Public Meetings 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of meetings. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces three 

fact-finding informal airspace meetings 

to solicit information from airspace 

users and others, concerning a proposal 

to revise the Class B airspace at Miami, 

FL, and the Class C airspace at Ft 

Lauderdale, FL. The purpose of these 

meetings is to provide interested parties 

an opportunity to present views, 

recommendations, and comments on the 

proposal. All comments received will be 

considered prior to any issuance of a 

notice of proposed rulemaking. 

DATES: The informal airspace meetings 

will be held on Monday, January 28, 

2013; Tuesday, January 29, 2013; and 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013. One 

meeting session will be held on January 

28, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Two sessions 

will be held on January 29 and January 

30, beginning at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. 

Comments must be received on or 

before March 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: (1) The meeting on Monday, 

January 28, 2013, will be held at the 

Wings Over Miami Air Museum, 

Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, 

14710 SW 128th St., Miami, FL 33196 

[Call 305–233–5197 for directions]; (2) 

The meeting on Tuesday, January 29, 

2013, will be held at the Miami Dade 

College, 2460 NW 66th Avenue, Bldg. 

701, Room 213, Miami, FL 33122 [Call 

305–588–1959 for directions]; and (3) 

The meeting on Wednesday, January 30, 

2013, will be held at the Miramar Town 

Center, 2050 Civic Center Place. 

Miramar, FL 33025 [Call 954–201–8084 

for directions]. 

Comments: Comments on the 

proposal may be submitted by email to: 

7-ASO-ESC-OSG-AirspaceComments@faa.gov; or by mail to: Barry 

Knight, Manager, Operations Support 

Group, Eastern Service Area, Air Traffic 

Organization, Federal Aviation 

Administration, P.O. Box 20636, 

Atlanta, GA 30320. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tony Russo, Support Manager, Miami 

ATCT/TRACON, 6400 NW. 22nd St., 

Miami, FL 33122; Telephone: 305–869– 

5403. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Meeting Procedures 

(a) The meetings will be open to all 

persons on a space-available basis. 

There will be no admission fee or other 

charge to attend and participate. 

(b) The meetings will be informal in 

nature and will be conducted by one or 

more representatives of the FAA Eastern 

Service Area. Each participant will be 

given an opportunity to make a 

presentation, although a time limit may 

be imposed. Each person wishing to 

make a presentation to the FAA panel 

will be asked to sign in so those time 

frames can be established. The meetings 

may be adjourned at any time if all 

persons present have had an 

opportunity to speak. 

(c) Position papers or other handout 

material relating to the substance of 

these meetings will be accepted. 

Participants submitting handout 

materials should present an original and 

two copies to the presiding officer. 

There should be an adequate number of 

copies for distribution to all 

participants. 

(e) These meetings will not be 

formally recorded. However, a summary 

of comments made at the meetings will 

be filed in the docket. 

Agenda for the Meetings 

—Sign-in. 

—Presentation of Meeting Procedures. 

—Informal Presentation of the planned 

Airspace Modifications. 

—Public Presentations and Discussions. 

—Closing Comments. 

There will be one session (beginning at 

6:00 p.m.) on January 28 and two 

sessions (beginning at 2:00 p.m. and 

6:00 p.m.) on both January 29 and 

January 30. FAA presentations will 

begin at the times listed. Each 

presentation will be the same, so 

attendees need not be present for both 

sessions. Attendees may arrive at any 

time at their convenience, and will not 

need to remain until the end. Following 

each FAA presentation there will be 

time for questions and presentations by 

attendees. Written comments may be 

submitted at any time during the 

meeting or via mail or email by March 

4, 2013. 

Information gathered through these 

meetings will assist the FAA in drafting 

a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM). The public will be afforded the 

opportunity to comment on any NPRM 

published on this matter. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with 
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 233 / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Proposed Rules 71735 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

14, 2012. 

Gary A. Norek, 

Manager, Airspace Policy and ATC 

Procedures Group. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28991 Filed 12–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Parts 121, 125, 135 

[Docket No.: FAA–2012–1059; Notice No. 

12–08] 

RIN 2120–AK11 

Minimum Altitudes for Use of 

Autopilots 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to amend 

and harmonize minimum altitudes for 

use of autopilots for transport category 

airplanes. The proposed rule would 

enable the operational use of advanced 

autopilot and navigation systems by 

incorporating the capabilities of new 

and future autopilots, flight guidance 

systems, and Global Navigation Satellite 

System (GNSS) guidance systems while 

protecting the continued use of legacy 

systems at current autopilot minimum 

use altitudes. The proposed rule would 

accomplish this through a performancebased approach, using the certified 

capabilities of autopilot systems as 

established by the Airplane Flight 

Manual (AFM) or as approved by the 

Administrator. 

DATES: Send comments on or before 

February 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number Docket No.: FAA– 

2012–1059 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to Docket 

Operations, M–30; U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, West 

Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 

comments to Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Privacy: The FAA will post all 

comments it receives, without change, 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides. Using the search 

function of the docket Web site, anyone 

can find and read the electronic form of 

all comments received into any FAA 

docket, including the name of the 

individual sending the comment (or 

signing the comment for an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement can be 

found in the Federal Register published 

on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478), 

as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

http://www.regulations.gov at any time. 

Follow the online instructions for 

accessing the docket or go to the Docket 

Operations in Room W12–140 of the 

West Building Ground Floor at 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions concerning this 

action, contact Kel O. Christianson, 

FAA, Aviation Safety Inspector, 

Performance Based Flight Systems 

Branch (AFS–470), Flight Standards 

Service, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone 202–385–4702; email 

Kel.christianson@faa.gov. 

For legal questions concerning this 

action, contact Robert H. Frenzel, 

Manager, Operations Law Branch, Office 

of the Chief Counsel, Regulations 

Division (AGC–220), Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone 202–267–3073; email 

Robert.Frenzel@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority for This Rulemaking 

The FAA’s authority to issue rules on 

aviation safety is found in Title 49 of the 

United States Code. This rulemaking is 

promulgated under the authority 

described in 49 U.S.C. 44701(a)(5), 

which requires the Administrator to 

promulgate regulations and minimum 

standards for other practices, methods, 

and procedures necessary for safety in 

air commerce and national security. 

This amendment to the regulation is 

within the scope of that authority 

because it prescribes an accepted 

method for ensuring the safe operation 

of aircraft while using autopilot 

systems. 

I. Overview of Proposed Rule 

The FAA proposes to amend and 

harmonize minimum altitudes for use of 

autopilots for transport category 

airplanes in order to streamline and 

simplify these operational rules. The 

proposed rule would enable the 

operational use of advanced autopilot 

and navigation systems by incorporating 

the capabilities of new and future 

autopilots, flight guidance systems, and 

Global Navigation Satellite System 

(GNSS) guidance systems while 

protecting the continued use of legacy 

systems. This would allow the FAA to 

enable the benefits of Next Generation 

Air Transportation System (NextGen) 

technologies and procedures (Optimized 

Profile Descents, Performance Based 

Navigation (PBN)) to enhance aviation 

safety in the National Airspace System 

(NAS). The rule would accomplish this 

through a performance-based approach, 

using the certified capabilities of 

autopilot systems as established by the 

Airplane Flight Manual (AFM). The 

proposal would also give the FAA 

Administrator the authorization to 

require an altitude higher than the AFM 

if the Administrator believes it to be in 

the interest of public safety. 

Currently, operators have a choice 

whether or not to update their aircraft 

with new autopilots as they are 

developed and certified by equipment 

manufacturers. This rule would not 

affect that decision-making process and 

would protect operators who choose to 

continue to operate as they do today. As 

a result, the proposed rule would not 

impose any additional costs on 

certificate holders that operate under 

parts 121, 125, or 135. Also, by setting 

new minimum altitudes for each phase 

of flight that certified equipment may 

operate to, the proposed rule would give 

manufacturers more certainty that new 

products could be used as they are 

developed. 

In response to Executive Order 13563 

issued by President Obama on January 

18, 2011, the proposed rule was first 

identified for inclusion in the 

Department of Transportation 

Retrospective Regulatory Review (May 

2011), noting that the current minimum 

altitudes for use of autopilots were 

unduly restrictive and would limit the 

ability to use new technologies. On May 

10, 2012, President Obama signed 

Executive Order 13610, establishing the 

Retrospective Regulatory Review as an 

on-going obligation. The proposed rule 

would also be consistent with the 

requirement in Executive Order 13610 

to modify or streamline regulations ‘‘in 

light of changed circumstances, 

including the rise of new technologies.’’ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with