EASA AD No.: 2011-0074-E

EASA Form 111 Page 1/2 

## EASA EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

AD No.: 2011-0074-E

Date: 22 April 2011

Note: This Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) i s issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 on behalf of the Europe an Community, its Member States and of the European third countries that participate in th e activities of EASA under Article 66 of that Regulation.
This AD is issued in accordance with EC 1702/2003, Part 21A.3B. In accordance with EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.301, the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft shall be en sured by accomplishing any applicable ADs. Conseque ntly, no person may operate an aircraft to which an AD applies, except in accordan ce with the requirements of that AD unless otherwis e specified by the Agency [EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.303] or agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry [EC 216/2008, A rticle 14(4) exemption]. 

### Type Approval Holder’s Name :
Piaggio Aero Industries SpA Type/Model designation(s) :
P.180 aeroplanes

TCDS Number : EASA.A.059

Foreign AD : Not applicable

Supersedure : This AD supersedes EASA AD 2010-0269 -E dated 22 December 2010



### ATA 53 Fuselage - Fuselage Drain Holes - Inspection / Rewo rk / Functional Test

Manufacturer(s): Piaggio Aero Industries SpA

Applicability: P.180 Avanti and Avanti II aeroplane s, manufacturer serial numbers (MSN) 1002 and from 1004 through 1218.

Reason: Prompted by reports of water accumulated in the low er part of the fuselage on a number of Piaggio Model P.180 aeroplanes, which res ulted in jamming of the flight controls, on 17 December 2010, the Federal A viation Administration (FAA), the authority of the State of Registry of th e affected aeroplanes, issued Emergency AD 2011-01-51 to require an immediate fun ctional test of the fuselage drain holes and a report of the results to the FAA. That AD was later superseded, on 20 December 2010, by FAA Emergency A D 2011-01-53. This condition, if not detected and corrected, coul d, when the aeroplane reaches and holds an altitude where the temperature is belo w the freezing point, cause the flight controls to freeze and jam, possibly res ulting in loss of control of the aeroplane. Since these AD actions were taken, Piaggio Aero Ind ustries, the type design approval holder and manufacturer of these aeroplane s, have published Alert Service Bulletin (SB) 80-0324, which describes the same inspection, testing and correction instructions as contained in the FAA Eme rgency AD. EASA AD 2010-0269-E required the inspection and fun ctional testing of the fuselage drain holes, corrective actions depending on findings, and reporting of the findings to Piaggio Aero Industries. Following issuance of EASA AD, another event of in- flight blockage of flight controls was reported by an operator. The aeroplane was already compliant with EASA AD 2010-0269-E, and during accomplishment of t he AD required inspection no discrepancies had been noted, nor wat er or ice accumulation were reported. As a consequence, additional drain h oles were not drilled.EASA AD No.: 2011-0074-E

EASA Form 111 Page 2/2 For the reasons described above, this AD, which sup ersedes EASA AD 2010-0269-E, requires, in order to improve efficien cy of the drainage system, to cut the rubber flap of the 2 aft flapper valves, to inspect the flapper valves for proper functioning and the subsequent accomplishmen t of a functional test of the fuselage drain holes. Furthermore, for those MSN not compliant with Piagg io Aero Industries Service Bulletin (SB) 80-0291 and where no additional drain holes had been drilled in accordance with the accomplishment instructions of Piaggio Aero Industries Alert Service Bulletin ASB-80-0324, step 5, this AD requires drilling additional drain holes. It is finally required to report the inspection res ults to Piaggio Aero industries.

Effective Date: 26 April 2011

Required Action(s) and Compliance Time(s): Required as indicated, unless accomplished previous ly: (1) For all aeroplanes : Within 10 Flight Hours (FH) or 10 days, whichever occurs first, after the effective date of this AD, cut off the rubber flap of the two flapper valves near frame (FR) 36, accomplish the inspection of th e flapper valves and the functional testing of the valves and the fuselage d rain holes and, depending on findings, do the applicable corrective actions, in accordance with the instructions of Part A of Piaggio Aero Industries S B 80-0330. (2) For MSN 1002 and from 1004 through 1213, where SB 80-0291 has not been embodied and where no additional drain holes h ave been drilled in accordance with the accomplishment instructions of ASB-80-0324, step 5 : Within 165 FH or 90 days, whichever occurs first, after the effective date of this AD, apply Piaggio Aero Industries SB 80-0291 o r, as an alternative, add drain holes on keel beam webs connecting the latera l bays to the centre ones, in accordance with the instructions of Part B of Piaggio Aero Industries SB 80-0330. (3) Within 10 days after accomplishment of the requ irements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this AD, report the results (including n o findings) to Piaggio Aero Industries, address details in the Remarks section of this AD.

Ref. Publications: Piaggio Aero Industries SB 80-03 30 Rev. 0 dated 21 April 2011. The use of later approved revisions of this documen t is acceptable for compliance with the requirements of this AD.

Remarks : 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated, EA SA can approve Alternative Methods of Compliance for this AD. 2. The safety assessment has requested not to imple ment the full consultation process and an immediate publication a nd notification. 3. Enquiries regarding this AD should be referred t o the Airworthiness Directives, Safety Management & Research Section, C ertification Directorate, EASA. E-mail: ADs@easa.europa.eu

. 4. For any question concerning the technical conten t of the requirements in this AD, please contact: Piaggio Aero Industries S.p.A - Airworthiness Offic e Via Luigi Cibrario, 4 – 16154 Genova – Italy Telephone: +39010 6481353 ; Fax: +39 010 6481881 E-mail: airworthiness@piaggioaero.it

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