Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 7, 2012 / Proposed Rules 66767 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0942; Directorate 

Identifier 2012–NE–24–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Pratt & 

Whitney Canada Corp. 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 certain 

serial number Pratt & Whitney Canada 

Corp. (P&WC) PW206B, PW206B2, 

PW206C, PW207C, PW207D, PW207D1, 

PW207D2, and PW207E turboshaft 

engines. This proposed AD was 

prompted by the discovery that certain 

power turbine (PT) disks were made to 

specific heat codes that may not achieve 

the maximum in-service life. This 

proposed AD would require reidentification of the PT disk to a part 

number (P/N) with a lower life limit. We 

are proposing this AD to prevent 

possible uncontained PT disk failure 

and loss of helicopter control. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by January 7, 2013. 

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. 

For service information identified in 

this AD, contact Pratt & Whitney Canada 

Corp., 1000 Marie-Victorin, Longueuil, 

Quebec, Canada, J4G 1A1; phone 800– 

268–8000; fax 450–647–2888; Web site: 

www.pwc.ca. You may view the 

referenced service information at the 

FAA, Engine & Propeller Directorate, 12 

New England Executive Park, 

Burlington, MA. For information on the 

availability of this material at the FAA, 

call 781–238–7125. 

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 (phone: 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: 

James Lawrence, Aerospace Engineer, 

Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine 

& Propeller Directorate, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803; 

phone: 781–238–7176; fax: 781–238– 

7199; email: james.lawrence@faa.gov. 

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–2012–0942; Directorate Identifier 

2012–NE–24–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 

Transport Canada, which is the 

aviation authority for Canada, has 

issued Canada AD CF–2012–23, dated 

July 26, 2012 (referred to hereinafter as 

‘‘the MCAI’’), to correct an unsafe 

condition for the specified products. 

The MCAI states: 

Certain power turbine (PT) disks, part 

number (P/N) 3044188–01, made to specific 

heat codes may not achieve the established 

maximum in-service life when installed in 

Turbomachinery Assembly P/N 3058588. The 

PT disk in-service life for engines using this 

specific PT disk and compressor turbine (CT) 

vane combination is reduced when operated 

in a particular temperature and speed 

environment. 

You may obtain further information by 

examining the MCAI in the AD docket. 

Relevant Service Information 

P&WC has issued Alert Service 

Bulletin No. PW200–72–A28311, 

Revision 2, dated July 24, 2012. P&WC 

has also issued Engine Maintenance 

Manual (EMM) Temporary Revisions 

AL–3, AL–4, AL -12, AL–13, AL–16, 

AL–18, AL–19, and AL–20, all dated 

June 5, 2012. 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 Canada, and is 

approved for operation in the United 

States. Pursuant to our bilateral 

agreement with Canada, they have 

notified us of the unsafe condition 

described in the MCAI and service 

information referenced above. We are 

issuing this proposed AD because we 

evaluated all information provided by 

Canada and determined the unsafe 

condition exists and is likely to exist or 

develop on other products of the same 

type design. 

This proposed AD would require reidentification of the PT disk to a P/N 

with a lower life limit. 

Differences Between This Proposed AD 

and the MCAI 

The MCAI requires the reidentification or replacement of affected 

PT disks for engines with other than 

Turbomachinery Assembly P/N 3058588 

installations. This proposed AD would 

not. 

Costs of Compliance 

We estimate that this proposed AD 

would affect about 83 engines installed 

on helicopters of U.S. registry. We also 

estimate that it would take about 4 

hours per engine to comply with this 

proposed AD. The average labor rate is 

$85 per hour. Prorated parts life will 

cost about $8,900. Based on these 

figures, we estimate the cost of the 

proposed AD on U.S. operators to be 

$766,920. 

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 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
66768 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 7, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

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. 

4. 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 airworthiness 

directive (AD): 

Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (Formerly 

Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc.): Docket 

No. FAA–2012–0942; Directorate 

Identifier 2012–NE–24–AD. 

(a) Comments Due Date 

We must receive comments by January 7, 

2013. 

(b) Affected ADs 

None. 

(c) Applicability 

This AD applies to Pratt & Whitney Canada 

Corp. (P&WC) model PW206B, PW206B2, 

PW206C, PW207C, PW207D, PW207D1, 

PW207D2, and PW207E turboshaft engines. 

(d) Reason 

This AD was prompted by certain power 

turbine (PT) disks, part number (P/N) 

3044188–01, made to specific heat codes that 

may not achieve the established maximum 

in-service life when installed in 

Turbomachinery Assembly P/N 3058588. The 

PT disk in-service life for engines using this 

specific PT disk and compressor turbine vane 

combination is reduced when operated in a 

particular temperature and speed 

environment. We are issuing this AD to 

prevent possible uncontained PT disk failure 

and loss of helicopter control. 

(e) Actions and Compliance 

Unless already done, do the following 

actions. 

(f) Affected PT Disks Installed With 

Turbomachinery Assembly P/N 3058588 

Installation 

(1) For any PT disk P/N 3044188–01 that 

is listed by serial number (S/N) in Table 1 of 

P&WC Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) No. 

PW200–72–A28311, Revision 2, dated July 

24, 2012, and, that is installed or that had 

previously been installed with 

Turbomachinery Assembly P/N 3058588 

installation, do the following: 

(i) Remove the PT disk P/N 3044188–01 

from service before it reaches 10,000 cyclessince-new (CSN). 

(ii) Re-identify the PT disk to P/N 

3072542–01, at the next engine shop visit, 

not to exceed 10,000 CSN on the PT disk, 

before reinstalling it in any engine. Use 

paragraphs 3.B.(1) through 3.B.(1)(b)4 of the 

Accomplishment Instructions of P&WC ASB 

No. PW200–72–A28311, Revision 2, dated 

July 24, 2012, to do the re-identification. 

(iii) After re-identification of the PT disk to 

P/N 3072542–01, retain the total cycles 

accumulated as P/N 3044188–01. The cycles 

remaining on the re-identified P/N 3072542– 

01 PT disk must be calculated using the 

difference between the published life limit of 

P/N 3072542–01 and the total number of 

cycles accumulated as P/N 3044188–01. The 

maximum in-service life of PT disk P/N 

3072542–01 is 10,000 CSN. 

(2) After the effective date of this AD, do 

not install any PT disk P/N 3044188–01 that 

is listed in Table 1 of P&WC ASB No. 

PW200–72–A28311, Revision 2, dated July 

24, 2012, in any engine with Turbomachinery 

Assembly P/N 3058588 installation, unless 

the PT disk has been re-identified to P/N 

3072542–01. Use paragraphs 3.B.(1) through 

3.B.(1)(b)4 of the Accomplishment 

Instructions of P&WC ASB No. PW200–72– 

A28311, Revision 2, dated July 24, 2012, to 

do the PT disk re-identification. 

(g) Credit for Actions Accomplished in 

Accordance With Previous Service 

Information 

You may take credit for the reidentification of the PT disk that is required 

by this AD if you performed the reidentification before the effective date of this 

AD using P&WC ASB No. PW200–72– 

A28311, dated March 1, 2012, or P&WC ASB 

No. PW200–72–A28311, Revision 1, dated 

March 22, 2012. 

(h) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

The Manager, Engine Certification Office, 

may approve AMOCs for this AD. Use the 

procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19 to make 

your request. 

(i) Related Information 

(1) For more information about this AD, 

contact James Lawrence, Aerospace Engineer, 

Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine & 

Propeller Directorate, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803; 

phone: 781–238–7176; fax: 781–238–7199; 

email: james.lawrence@faa.gov. 

(2) Refer to Transport Canada AD CF– 

2012–23, dated July 26, 2012, and P&WC 

Alert Service Bulletin No. PW200–72– 

A28311, Revision 2, dated July 24, 2012, for 

related information. 

(3) The Engine Maintenance Manual 

(EMM) Temporary Revisions (TRs) listed in 

Table 1 to paragraph (i)(3) pertain to the 

subject of this AD. 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (i)(3)—EMM 

TRS

EMM P/Ns: TR Nos.: 

3071602 ................................. AL–3, AL–4. 

3043612 ................................. AL–12, AL– 

13. 

3043322 ................................. AL–16. 

3039732 ................................. AL–18, AL– 

19. 

3038324 ................................. AL–20. 

(4) For service information identified in 

this AD, contact Pratt & Whitney Canada 

Corp., 1000 Marie-Victorin, Longueuil, 

Quebec, Canada, J4G 1A1; phone: 800–268– 

8000; fax: 450–647–2888; Web site: 

www.pwc.ca. You may view the referenced 

service information at the FAA, Engine & 

Propeller Directorate, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA. For 

information on the availability of this 

material at the FAA, call 781–238–7125. 

Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts, on 

October 29, 2012. 

Colleen M. D’Alessandro, 

Assistant Manager, Engine & Propeller 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–27169 Filed 11–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 


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