1494 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2016 / Rules and Regulations 

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): 

2016–01–06 Agusta S.p.A.: Amendment 39– 

18365; Docket No. FAA–2015–8695; 

Directorate Identifier 2015–SW–042–AD. 

(a) Applicability 

This AD applies to Model AB139 and 

AW139 helicopters, certificated in any 

category, with a Full Icing Protection System 

tail rotor slip ring (slip ring) part number (P/ 

N) 4G6420V00151, P/N 4G6420V00152, or P/ 

N 4G6420V00153 installed, except a slip ring 

with a letter ‘‘T’’ after the serial number or 

marked with ‘‘MOD 1.’’ 

(b) Unsafe Condition 

This AD defines the unsafe condition as a 

loose or missing screw connecting the 

mounting flange and the slip ring body. This 

condition could result in separation of the 

mounting flange from the slip ring body and 

subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. 

(c) Effective Date 

This AD becomes effective January 28, 

2016. 

(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 

Within 25 hours time-in-service: 

(1) Remove each slip ring from the 

helicopter. Remove each lockwire, fastener, 

and washer by following the Compliance 

Instructions, paragraphs 3 through 5, of Moog 

Service Bulletin SB 14–02, Revision D, 

undated, included as Annex A to Agusta 

Westland Bollettino Tecnico (BT) No. 139– 

404, dated December 22, 2014, except you are 

not required to discard parts. 

(2) Inspect the wall of the mounting plate 

hole for a chatter mark, witness mark, or 

scoring. If there is a chatter mark, witness 

mark, or scoring, replace the slip ring with 

a slip ring that is not listed in paragraph (a) 

of this AD. 

(3) Determine the depth of the mounting 

plate hole. If the depth exceeds the grip 

length of the screw, replace the slip ring with 

a slip ring that is not listed in paragraph (a) 

of this AD. 

(4) Re-identify the slip ring by marking a 

letter ‘‘T’’ after the serial number with 

permanent black pen and applying acrylic 

lacquer (CO81 or equivalent). 

(5) Do not install an affected slip ring on 

any helicopter unless the slip ring has passed 

the inspections in accordance with this AD. 

(f) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(1) The Manager, Safety Management 

Group, FAA, may approve AMOCs for this 

AD. Send your proposal to: Martin R. Crane, 

Aviation Safety Engineer, Safety Management 

Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 10101 

Hillwood Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX 76177; 

telephone (817) 222–5110; email 9-ASWFTW-AMOC-Requests@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 

The subject of this AD is addressed in 

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD 

No. 2015–0155, dated July 28, 2015. You may 

view the EASA AD on the Internet at 

http://www.regulations.gov by searching for 

and locating it in Docket No. FAA–2015– 

8695. 

(h) Subject 

Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) 

Code: 3060 Propeller/Rotor Anti-ice/De-Ice 

System. 

(i) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference of 

the service information listed in this 

paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR 

part 51. 

(2) You must use this service information 

as applicable to do the actions required by 

this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) AgustaWestland Bollettino Technico 

No. 139–404, dated December 22, 2014, 

including Annex A, Moog Service Bulletin 

SB 14–02, Revision D, undated. 

(ii) Reserved. 

(3) For service information identified in 

this AD, contact Moog Inc., Components 

Group, Blacksburg Operations, 1213 North 

Main St., Blacksburg, Virginia 24606–3127, 

telephone 540/552–3011, or at 

www.moog.com. 

(4) You may view this service information 

at FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel, 

Southwest Region, 10101 Hillwood Pkwy, 

Room 6N–321, Fort Worth, TX 76177. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call (817) 222–5110. 

(5) You may view this service information 

that is incorporated by reference at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For information on 

the availability of this material at NARA, call 

(202) 741–6030, or go to: http://

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html. 

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 

28, 2015. 

Lance T. Gant, 

Manager, Rotorcraft Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2016–00013 Filed 1–12–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–1990; Directorate 

Identifier 2015–NM–027–AD; Amendment 

39–18364; AD 2016–01–05] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing 

Company Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for certain 

The Boeing Company Model 737–400 

series airplanes, as modified by a certain 

supplemental type certificate. This AD 

was prompted by the discovery of a 

design drawing error regarding placards 

that identified incorrect squibs and 

pressure switches for certain fire 

extinguisher bottles. This AD requires a 

detailed inspection of certain cargo 

placards to determine if they are the 

correct placards and in the correct 

location, a detailed inspection of the 

harnesses to verify that they are marked 

and installed correctly, and corrective 

action if necessary. We are issuing this 

AD to detect and correct incorrectly 

installed harnesses for the cargo fire 

suppression system bottles, which could 

result in an incorrect activation 

sequence of the bottles, the inability to 

suppress a cargo fire quickly, and a 

possible uncontrollable fire. 

DATES: This AD is effective February 17, 

2016. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2016 / Rules and Regulations 1495 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of a certain publication listed in this AD 

as of February 17, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: 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 view 

this 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. It is also available 

on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov by searching for 

and locating Docket No. FAA–2015– 

1990. 

Examining the AD Docket 

You may examine the AD docket on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov by searching for 

and locating Docket No. FAA–2015– 

1990; or in person at the Docket 

Management Facility between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. The AD docket 

contains this AD, the regulatory 

evaluation, any comments received, and 

other information. The address for the 

Docket Office (phone: 800–647–5527) is 

Docket Management Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Docket 

Operations, M–30, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

DeVore, Aerospace Engineer, Systems 

and Propulsion Branch, ACE–116W, 

FAA, Wichita ACO, 1801 Airport Road, 

Room 100, Mid-Continent Airport, 

Wichita, KS 67209; phone: 316–946– 

4142; fax: 316–946–4107; email: 

paul.devore@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion 

We issued a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR 

part 39 by adding an AD that would 

apply to certain The Boeing Company 

Model 737–400 series airplanes, as 

modified by a certain supplemental type 

certificate. The NPRM published in the 

Federal Register on July 2, 2015 (80 FR 

38033). The NPRM was prompted by the 

discovery of a design drawing error 

regarding placards that identified 

incorrect squibs and pressure switches 

for certain fire extinguisher bottles. The 

NPRM proposed to require a detailed 

inspection of certain cargo placards to 

determine if they are the correct 

placards and in the correct location, a 

detailed inspection of the harnesses to 

verify that they are marked and installed 

correctly, and corrective action if 

necessary. We are issuing this AD to 

detect and correct incorrectly installed 

harnesses for the cargo fire suppression 

system bottles, which could result in an 

incorrect activation sequence of the 

bottles, the inability to suppress a cargo 

fire quickly, and a possible 

uncontrollable fire. 

Comments 

We gave the public the opportunity to 

participate in developing this AD. We 

have considered the comments received. 

The European Aviation Safety Agency 

stated that it is following the progress of 

this activity of the NPRM (80 FR 38033, 

July 2, 2015). Boeing stated that the 

NPRM does not address any Boeing 

designs; therefore, Boeing can neither 

review the data, nor comment on the 

content of the NPRM, and that no file 

attachment accompanies its comment. 

Conclusion 

We reviewed the relevant data, 

considered the comments received, and 

determined that air safety and the 

public interest require adopting this AD 

as proposed except for minor editorial 

changes. We have determined that these 

minor changes: 

• Are consistent with the intent that 

was proposed in the NPRM (80 FR 

38033, July 2, 2015) for correcting the 

unsafe condition; and 

• Do not add any additional burden 

upon the public than was already 

proposed in the NPRM (80 FR 38033, 

July 2, 2015). 

Related Service Information Under 1 

CFR Part 51 

We reviewed Advanced Aircraft 

Extinguishers Service Bulletin TFA10– 

26–0020, Revision IR, dated January 12, 

2015. The service information describes 

procedures for a detailed inspection of 

Advanced Aircraft Extinguishers cargo 

fire protection system placards to 

determine if they are the correct 

placards and in the correct location, and 

applicable corrective actions; and a 

detailed inspection of the harnesses to 

verify that they are correctly marked 

and installed, and doing steps C.(5) 

through C.(11) of Advanced Aircraft 

Extinguishers Service Bulletin TFA10– 

26–0020, Revision IR, dated January 12, 

2015, if necessary. This service 

information is reasonably available 

because the interested parties have 

access to it through their normal course 

of business or by the means identified 

in the ADDRESSES section. 

Costs of Compliance 

We estimate that this AD affects 3 

airplanes of U.S. registry. 

We estimate the following costs to 

comply with this AD: 

ESTIMATED COSTS

Action Labor cost Parts cost Cost per 

product 

Cost on U.S. 

operators 

Detailed inspection .......................................... 2 work-hours × $85 per hour = $170 ............. N/A $170 $510 

We estimate the following costs to do 

any necessary corrective actions that 

will be required based on the results of 

the inspection. We have no way of 

determining the number of aircraft that 

might need these corrective actions: 

ON-CONDITION COSTS

Action Labor cost Parts cost Cost per 

product 

Corrective actions ......................................................... 2 work-hours × $85 per hour = $170 ........................... $900 $1,070 


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1496 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2016 / Rules and Regulations 

According to the manufacturer, some 

of the costs of this AD may be covered 

under warranty, thereby reducing the 

cost impact on affected individuals. We 

do not control warranty coverage for 

affected individuals. As a result, we 

have included all costs in our cost 

estimate. 

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 

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, 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. 

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): 

2016–01–05 The Boeing Company: 

Amendment 39–18364; Docket No. 

FAA–2015–1990; Directorate Identifier 

2015–NM–027–AD. 

(a) Effective Date 

This AD is effective February 17, 2016. 

(b) Affected ADs 

None. 

(c) Applicability 

This AD applies to The Boeing Company 

Model 737–400 series airplanes, certificated 

in any category, having serial numbers 

23865, 24231, 24706, 24474, 25417, 27003, 

27149, 25375, 26281, 28661, and 28881, as 

modified by Supplemental Type Certificate 

ST01114WI (http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_

and_Guidance_Library/rgstc.nsf/0/

f9490633c04cbc8286257301006ed621/$FILE/

ST01114WI.pdf). 

(d) Subject 

Air Transport Association (ATA) of 

America Code 26, Fire Protection. 

(e) Unsafe Condition 

This AD was prompted by the discovery of 

a design drawing error regarding placards 

that identified incorrect squibs and pressure 

switches for certain fire extinguisher bottles. 

We are issuing this AD to detect and correct 

incorrectly installed harnesses for the cargo 

fire suppression system bottles, which could 

result in an incorrect activation sequence of 

the bottles, the inability to suppress a cargo 

fire quickly, and a possible uncontrollable 

fire. 

(f) Compliance 

Comply with this AD within the 

compliance times specified, unless already 

done. 

(g) Placard Inspection 

Within 6 months after effective date of this 

AD, do a detailed inspection of Advanced 

Aircraft Extinguishers cargo fire protection 

system (FPS) placards to determine if they 

are the correct placards and in the correct 

location, and do all applicable corrective 

actions, in accordance with the ‘‘SERVICE 

BULLETIN INSTRUCTIONS’’ of Advanced 

Aircraft Extinguishers Service Bulletin 

TFA10–26–0020, Revision IR, dated January 

12, 2015. Do all applicable corrective actions 

before further flight. 

(h) Harness Inspection 

Within 6 months after the effective date of 

this AD, do a detailed inspection of the 

harnesses to verify that they are correctly 

marked and installed, in accordance with the 

‘‘SERVICE BULLETIN INSTRUCTIONS’’ of 

Advanced Aircraft Extinguishers Service 

Bulletin TFA10–26–0020, Revision IR, dated 

January 12, 2015. If any harness is not 

marked or installed correctly, before further 

flight, do steps C.(5) through C.(11) specified 

in and in accordance with the ‘‘SERVICE 

BULLETIN INSTRUCTIONS’’ of Advanced 

Aircraft Extinguishers Service Bulletin 

TFA10–26–0020, Revision IR, dated January 

12, 2015, except as required by paragraph (i) 

of this AD. 

(i) Exception to the Service Information 

Specification 

Where Advanced Aircraft Extinguishers 

Service Bulletin TFA10–26–0020, Revision 

IR, dated January 12, 2015, specifies 

contacting the manufacturer for appropriate 

action: Before further flight, repair in 

accordance with a method approved by the 

Manager, Wichita Aircraft Certification Office 

(ACO), FAA. 

(j) Special Flight Permit 

Special flight permits may be issued in 

accordance with sections 21.197 and 21.199 

of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR 

21.197 and 21.199) to operate the airplane, 

provided the airplane does not carry cargo in 

the lower cargo bay. 

(k) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(1) The Manager, Wichita 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 

paragraph (l) of this AD. 

(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) Except as required by paragraph (i) of 

this AD: For service information that 

contains steps that are labeled as Required 

for Compliance (RC), the provisions of 

paragraphs (k)(3)(i) and (k)(3)(ii) of this AD 

apply. 

(i) The steps labeled as RC, including 

substeps under an RC step and any figures 

identified in an RC step, must be done to 

comply with the AD. An AMOC is required 

for any deviations to RC steps, including 

substeps and identified figures. 

(ii) Steps not labeled as RC may be 

deviated from using accepted methods in 

accordance with the operator’s maintenance 

or inspection program without obtaining 

approval of an AMOC, provided the RC steps, 

including substeps and identified figures, can 

still be done as specified, and the airplane 

can be put back in an airworthy condition. 

(l) Related Information 

For more information about this AD, 

contact Paul C. DeVore, Aerospace Engineer, 

Systems and Propulsion Branch, ACE–116W, 

FAA, Wichita ACO, 1801 Airport Road, 

Room 100, Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2016 / Rules and Regulations 1497 

KS 67209; phone: 316–946–4142; fax: 316– 

946–4107; email: paul.devore@faa.gov. 

(m) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

(IBR) of the service information listed in this 

paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR 

part 51. 

(2) You must use this service information 

as applicable to do the actions required by 

this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) Advanced Aircraft Extinguishers Service 

Bulletin TFA10–26–0020, Revision IR, dated 

January 12, 2015. 

(ii) Reserved. 

(3) 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. 

(4) You may view this service information 

at 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. 

(5) You may view this service information 

that is incorporated by reference at the 

National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For information on 

the availability of this material at NARA, call 

202–741–6030, or go to: http:// 

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

December 28, 2015. 

Philip Forde, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2016–00004 Filed 1–12–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–0937; Directorate 

Identifier 2014–NM–024–AD; Amendment 

39–18348; AD 2015–25–10] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are superseding 

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2011–24– 

05 for certain Airbus Model A330–201, 

–202, –203, –223, –243, –301, –302, 

–303, –321, –322, –323, –341, –342, and 

–343 airplanes, and Model A340–200 

and –300 series airplanes. AD 2011–24– 

05 required repetitive inspections for 

cracking of the hole(s) of the horizontal 

flange of the keel beam, and repair if 

necessary. This new AD requires 

changing the inspection compliance 

times, and, for certain airplanes, adding 

a one-time ultrasonic inspection for 

cracking at a certain fastener hole. This 

new AD also provides optional 

terminating action for the repetitive 

inspections. This AD was prompted by 

a determination that the rototest 

inspection and applicable corrective 

actions of a certain fastener hole were 

inadvertently omitted from the 

requirements in AD 2011–24–05. We are 

issuing this AD to detect and correct 

cracking of the fastener holes, which 

could result in rupture of the keel beam, 

and consequent reduced structural 

integrity of the airplane. 

DATES: This AD becomes effective 

February 17, 2016. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of certain publications listed in this AD 

as of February 17, 2016. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of certain other publications listed in 

this AD as of January 3, 2012 (76 FR 

73496, November 29, 2011). 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of certain other publications listed in 

this AD as of September 13, 2007 (72 FR 

44731, August 9, 2007). 

ADDRESSES: You may examine the AD 

docket on the Internet at http://

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=FAA-2015-0937; or in 

person at the Docket Management 

Facility, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC. 

For service information identified in 

this final rule, contact Airbus SAS, 

Airworthiness Office—EAL, 1 Rond 

Point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac 

Cedex, France; telephone +33 5 61 93 36 

96; fax +33 5 61 93 45 80; email 

airworthiness.A330-A340@airbus.com; 

Internet http://www.airbus.com. You 

may view this 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. It is also 

available on the Internet at http://

www.regulations.gov by searching for 

and locating Docket No. FAA–2015– 

0937. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vladimir Ulyanov, Aerospace Engineer, 

International Branch, ANM–116, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA, 

1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 

98057–3356; telephone 425–227–1138; 

fax 425–227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion 

We issued a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR 

part 39 to supersede AD 2011–24–05, 

Amendment 39–16869 (76 FR 73496, 

November 29, 2011). AD 2011–24–05 

applied to certain Airbus Model A330– 

201, –202, –203, –223, –243, –301, –302, 

–303, –321, –322, –323, –341, –342, and 

–343 airplanes; and Model A340–200 

and –300 series airplanes. The NPRM 

published in the Federal Register on 

May 4, 2015 (80 FR 25249). 

The European Aviation Safety Agency 

(EASA), which is the Technical Agent 

for the Member States of the European 

Union, has issued EASA Airworthiness 

Directive 2014–0010R1, dated May 5, 

2014 (referred to after this as the 

Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness 

Information, or ‘‘the MCAI’’), to correct 

an unsafe condition for certain Airbus 

Model A330–201, –202, –203, –223, 

–243, –301, –302, –303, –321, –322, 

–323, –341, –342, and –343 airplanes; 

and Model A340–200 and –300 series 

airplanes. The MCAI states: 

During A330 and A340 aeroplanes fatigue 

tests, cracks were detected on the RH [righthand] and LH [left-hand] sides between the 

crossing area of the keel beam fitting and the 

front spar of the Centre Wing Box (CWB). 

This condition, if not detected and 

corrected, could lead to keel beam rupture 

which would affect the structural integrity of 

the area. 

Prompted by this potential unsafe 

condition, EASA issued AD 2006–0315 

[http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/easa_ad_

2006_0315.pdf/AD_2006-0315] (later revised 

to R1) to require repetitive special detailed 

inspections (SDI) [rotating probe inspection 

for cracking] on the horizontal flange of the 

keel beam in the area of first fastener hole aft 

of Frame (FR) 40 in order to maintain the 

structural integrity of the aeroplane. 

After that [EASA] AD was issued, EASA 

issued AD 2010–0024 [which corresponds to 

FAA AD 2011–24–05, Amendment 39–16869 

(76 FR 73496, November 29, 2011)], retaining 

the inspection requirements of EASA AD 

2006–0315R1 [http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/ 

easa_ad_2006_0315R1.pdf/AD_2006- 

0315R1], which was superseded, extending 

the applicability to aeroplanes with Airbus 

Mod 49202 embodied, and reducing the 

inspection thresholds and intervals. 

Since that [EASA] AD [2010–0024] was 

issued, a new fatigue and damage tolerance 

evaluation has been conducted by Airbus, 

which concluded that due to the aeroplane 

utilization, the current inspection threshold 

and intervals have to be modified. 

In addition, it was determined that the 

rototest inspection of fastener hole Nr 6, 

necessary to ensure that no crack was left 

unrepaired at the time of fastener hole cold 

working, was inadvertently not included in 


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