This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

70483 

Vol. 70, No. 224 

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2005–20729; Directorate 

Identifier 2002–NM–71–AD; Amendment 39– 

14370; AD 2005–23–12] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; BAE 

Systems (Operations) Limited Model 

BAe 146 and Model Avro 146–RJ 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is superseding an 

existing airworthiness directive (AD), 

which applies to all BAE Systems 

(Operations) Limited Model BAe 146 

and Model Avro 146–RJ airplanes. That 

AD currently requires revising the 

Airworthiness Limitations Section 

(ALS) of the Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness to incorporate life limits 

for certain items and inspections to 

detect fatigue cracking in certain 

structures. This new AD requires 

revising the ALS of the Instructions for 

Continued Airworthiness to incorporate 

new and more restrictive life limits for 

certain items and new and more 

restrictive inspections to detect fatigue 

cracking in certain structures. This new 

AD results from issuance of a later 

revision to the airworthiness limitations 

of the BAe/Avro 146 Aircraft 

Maintenance Manual, which specifies 

new inspections and compliance times 

for inspection and replacement actions. 

We are issuing this AD to ensure that 

fatigue cracking of certain structural 

elements is detected and corrected; such 

fatigue cracking could adversely affect 

the structural integrity of these 

airplanes. 

DATES: This AD becomes effective 

December 27, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: You may examine the AD 

docket on the Internet at http:// 

dms.dot.gov or in person at the Docket 

Management Facility, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street 

SW., Nassif Building, Room PL–401, 

Washington, DC. 

Contact British Aerospace Regional 

Aircraft American Support, 13850 

Mclearen Road, Herndon, Virginia 

20171, for service information identified 

in this AD. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Todd Thompson, Aerospace Engineer, 

International Branch, ANM–116, FAA, 

Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601 

Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 

98055–4056; telephone (425) 227–1175; 

fax (425) 227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Examining the Docket 

You may examine the airworthiness 

directive (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 street address stated in the 

ADDRESSES section. 

Discussion 

The FAA issued a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR 

part 39 to include an AD that 

supersedes AD 2000–26–07, amendment 

39–12057 (66 FR 263, January 3, 2001). 

The existing AD applies to all BAE 

Systems (Operations) Limited Model 

BAe 146 and Model Avro 146–RJ 

airplanes. That NPRM was published in 

the Federal Register on March 30, 2005 

(70 FR 16187). That NPRM proposed to 

require revising the Airworthiness 

Limitations Section (ALS) of the 

Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness to incorporate new and 

more restrictive life limits for certain 

items and new and more restrictive 

inspections to detect fatigue cracking in 

certain structures. 

Comments 

We provided the public the 

opportunity to participate in the 

development of this AD. We have 

considered the comments that have 

been received on the NPRM. 

Request To Extend the Compliance 

Time 

One commenter states that the 30-day 

compliance time is not sufficient for the 

amount of work involved in 

incorporating the requirements of the 

NPRM. The commenter states that 

incorporating the requirements involves 

a major revision to the inspection 

program. 

We do not agree that the 30-day 

compliance time is not sufficient. The 

new requirements of this AD simply 

involve revising the ALS. The estimated 

time to revise the ALS is normally 1 

hour per airplane. Therefore, we have 

determined that a 30-day compliance 

time is adequate for accomplishing the 

ALS revision. Additionally, the time to 

implement the structural inspections 

and life limits specified in the revision 

of the ALS could vary significantly 

between operators and we are not able 

to predict what those variances may be. 

Continued operational safety 

necessitates revising the ALS within the 

30-day compliance because of the 

severity of the unsafe condition. 

Therefore, we have determined that it is 

unnecessary to revise the final rule in 

that regard. However, a provision to 

allow an operator to request an approval 

for an extension of the compliance time 

may be submitted in accordance with 

paragraph (j) of this AD. 

Request To Revise the Estimated ‘‘Costs 

of Compliance’’ 

The same commenter also requests 

that we revise the estimated ‘‘Costs of 

Compliance’’ in the NPRM. The 

commenter states that the estimated cost 

of the NPRM has been greatly 

understated. The commenter notes that 

the reasons specified in the previous 

paragraph to extend the compliance 

time also contribute to a much higher 

cost to implement the requirements of 

the NPRM. In fact, the commenter 

estimates that it will cost $518,000 to 

accomplish the requirements of the 

NPRM for its fleet of 12 airplanes. 

We do not agree that the ‘‘Costs of 

Compliance’’ need to be revised. The 

direct cost of implementing the revision 

of the ALS that is required by this AD 

will take about 1 hour per airplane. 

However, we recognize that this AD 

may impose certain operational costs, 

and that maintaining airplanes in an 

70484 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

airworthy condition is vital, but 

sometimes expensive. ADs require 

specific actions to address specific 

unsafe conditions and consequently 

may appear to impose costs that would 

not otherwise be borne by operators. 

However, because operators have a 

general obligation to maintain their 

airplanes in an airworthy condition, this 

appearance is deceptive. Attributing 

those costs solely to this AD is 

unrealistic because, in the interest of 

maintaining safe airplanes, prudent 

operators would accomplish these 

actions even if they were not required 

by the AD. We find it unnecessary to 

revise the final rule in that regard. 

Request To Revise Format for 

Clarification 

The same commenter requests that the 

NPRM be revised to simplify the fact 

that the NPRM would supersede the 

requirements of AD 2000–26–07. The 

commenter notes that the re-statement 

of AD 2000–26–07 in paragraph (f) of 

the NPRM, along with the statement in 

paragraph (h) of the NPRM that once the 

new and more restrictive inspections 

required by paragraph (h) have been 

incorporated the requirements of 

paragraph (f) are terminated, is 

redundant and distracts from the 

meaning and clear understanding of the 

NPRM. 

We do not agree that such 

‘‘simplification’’ would clarify the 

requirements of this AD. Repeating the 

requirements of the existing AD merely 

provides for continuing the 

requirements of AD 2000–26–07 until 

the new requirements of this AD are 

complied with. The requirements are 

not ‘‘redundant’’ because, after the 

effective date of this AD (when AD 

2000–26–27 will be superseded), 

airplanes subject to the airworthiness 

limitations specified in that AD will 

continue to be subject to them until the 

limitations are revised as required by 

this AD. Further, many operators have 

requested that we explicitly provide 

wording to reflect when the 

requirements of an AD are terminated, 

and we try to accommodate this 

clarification when applicable. We find 

that it is unnecessary to revise the final 

rule in that regard. 

Request To Clearly Identify the New 

Inspections 

The same commenter states that it 

would be less confusing if the NPRM 

skipped all the references to the 

Airplane Maintenance Manual (AMM) 

sections and revisions and just stated 

that the structural inspections in the 

Maintenance Review Board (MRB) 

report 146–1, section 6, at ‘‘X revision 

level’’ had to be incorporated into the 

Airworthiness Limitation Section (ALS). 

We do not agree that the AD should 

reference complying with the AD in 

accordance with the MRB report. 

Although the data specified in the MRB 

report may be identical to the AMM, the 

data specified in the AMM has been 

approved by the Civil Aviation 

Authority (CAA), which is the 

airworthiness authority for the United 

Kingdom. No change is necessary to this 

AD in that regard. However, if an 

operator wishes to request an alternative 

method of compliance (AMOC), a 

provision has been specified in 

paragraph (j) of this AD. 

Request To Clarify Effectivity 

The same commenter states that it is 

not clear if the NPRM is addressing the 

structural inspections for airplanes that 

exceed the limits under the life 

extension program (LEP). The 

commenter notes that Section 05–10–01 

of the AMM, which was specified in the 

NPRM as a source of service 

information, identifies the 

Supplemental Structural Inspection 

Document (SSID), Service Bulletin 05–

002–20011A as the document that 

specifies the structural inspections for 

airplanes on which the LEP applies. 

However, the commenter states that the 

inspection requirements for the SSID 

have not all been identified, and as of 

April 28, 2005, Service Bulletin 05–

002–20011A has not been published. 

We acknowledge that a new service 

bulletin has not been issued yet. 

However, ANM 05–10–01 clearly 

specifies that it applies to airframe 

airworthiness limitations before the life 

extension program, and that, to provide 

effective corrosion control, the 

maintenance is required in accordance 

with the Corrosion Prevention and 

Control Program. We find that it is 

unnecessary to revise the final rule in 

this regard. However, when additional 

service information becomes available, 

we may consider further rulemaking. 

Since the Issuance of the Proposed AD 

After the issuance of the proposed 

AD, we received and reviewed a later 

revision of AMM 05–10–01, dated July 

15, 2005. AMM 05–10–01 references 

AMM 05–20–01 and AMM 05–10–00 as 

additional sources of service 

information. AMM 05–10–01 has been 

approved and mandated by the CAA of 

the United Kingdom. We have revised 

the AD to reflect this latest issuance of 

Chapter 05–10–01. 

Editorial Changes 

We have revised paragraph (f) of this 

AD to state that the Airworthiness 

Limitations Section (ALS) of the 

Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness must be revised in 

accordance with a method approved by 

the Manager, International Branch, 

ANM–116, FAA, Transport Airplane 

Directorate. We have also added that, 

one acceptable method of revision is by 

incorporating Section 05–10–01, dated 

July 15, 2005, of Chapter 5 of the BAe/ 

Avro 146 Aircraft Maintenance Manual 

(AMM), into the ALS. 

We have added a new Note 1 to this 

action regarding operators requesting 

Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) that provides other guidance 

regarding airplanes that have been 

previously modified, altered, or repaired 

in the areas addressed by the 

inspections of certain structures. 

Additionally, we have revised 

paragraph (j) of this action to clarify the 

appropriate procedure for notifying the 

principal inspector before using any 

approved AMOC on any airplane to 

which the AMOC applies. 

Explanation of Change to Applicability 

We have revised the applicability of 

the existing AD to identify model 

designations as published in the most 

recent type certificate data sheet for the 

affected models. 

Conclusion 

We have carefully reviewed the 

available data, including the comments 

that have been received, and determined 

that air safety and the public interest 

require adopting the AD with the 

changes described previously. We have 

determined that these changes will 

neither increase the economic burden 

on any operator nor increase the scope 

of the AD. 

Costs of Compliance 

This AD will affect about 59 airplanes 

of U.S. registry. 

The actions that are required by AD 

2000–26–07 and retained in this AD 

take about 1 work hour per airplane, at 

an average labor rate of $65 per work 

hour. No parts are required. Based on 

these figures, the estimated cost of the 

currently required actions is $65 per 

airplane. 

The new required actions will take 

about 1 work hour per airplane, at an 

average labor rate of $65 per work hour. 

No parts will be required. Based on 

these figures, the estimated cost of the 

new actions specified in this AD for 

U.S. operators is $3,835, or $65 per 

airplane. 

Authority for This Rulemaking 

Title 49 of the United States Code 

specifies the FAA’s authority to issue 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 70485 

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 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); 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 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. 

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 

removing amendment 39–12057 (66 FR 

263, January 3, 2001) and adding the 

following new airworthiness directive 

(AD): 

2005–23–12 BAE Systems (Operations) 

Limited (Formerly British Aerospace 

Regional Aircraft): Amendment 39–

14370. Docket No. FAA–2005–20729; 

Directorate Identifier 2002–NM–71–AD. 

Effective Date 

(a) This AD becomes effective December 

27, 2005. 

Affected ADs 

(b) This AD supersedes AD 2000–26–07. 

Applicability 

(c) This AD applies to all BAE Systems 

(Operations) Limited Model BAe 146–100A, 

–200A, and –300A series airplanes and 

Model Avro 146–RJ70A, 146–RJ85A, and 

146–RJ100A airplanes, certificated in any 

category. 

Unsafe Condition 

(d) This AD was prompted by issuance of 

a later revision to the airworthiness 

limitations of the BAe/Avro 146 Aircraft 

Maintenance Manual, which specifies new 

inspections and compliance times for 

inspection and replacement actions. We are 

issuing this AD to ensure that fatigue 

cracking of certain structural elements is 

detected and corrected; such fatigue cracking 

could adversely affect the structural integrity 

of these airplanes. 

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. 

Requirements of AD 2000–26–07: 

Airworthiness Limitations Revision 

(f) Within 30 days after February 7, 2001 

(the effective date of AD 2000–26–07), revise 

the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) 

of the Instructions for Continued 

Airworthiness in accordance with a method 

approved by the Manager, International 

Branch, ANM–116, FAA, Transport Airplane 

Directorate. One acceptable method of 

revision is by incorporating Section 05–10–

01, Revision 65, dated August 3, 1999, of 

Chapter 5 of the BAe/Avro 146 Aircraft 

Maintenance Manual (AMM), into the ALS. 

That section references other sections of the 

AMM. The applicable revision level of the 

referenced sections is that in effect on the 

effective date of this AD. 

(g) Except as specified in paragraph (j) of 

this AD: After the actions specified in 

paragraph (f) of this AD have been 

accomplished, no alternative inspections or 

inspection intervals may be approved for the 

structural elements specified in the 

document listed in paragraph (f) of this AD. 

New Requirements of This AD 

Note 1: This AD requires revisions to 

certain operator maintenance documents to 

include new inspections. Compliance with 

these inspections is required by 14 CFR 

91.403(c). For airplanes that have been 

previously modified, altered, or repaired in 

the areas addressed by these inspections, the 

operator may not be able to accomplish the 

inspections described in the revisions. In this 

situation, to comply with 14 CFR 91.403(c), 

the operator must request approval for an 

alternative method of compliance according 

to paragraph (j) of this AD. The request 

should include a description of changes to 

the required inspections that will ensure the 

continued damage tolerance of the affected 

structure. The FAA has provided guidance 

for this determination in Advisory Circular 

(AC) 25–1529. 

Later Revision for Airworthiness Limitations 

(h) Within 30 days after the effective date 

of this AD, revise the ALS of the Instructions 

for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate 

new and more restrictive life limits for 

certain items and new and more restrictive 

inspections to detect fatigue cracking in 

certain structures, in accordance with a 

method approved by the Manager, 

International Branch, ANM–116, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, FAA; or the Civil 

Aviation Authority (or its delegated agent). 

Section 05–10–01, dated July 15, 2005, of 

Chapter 5 of the BAe/Avro 146 Aircraft 

Maintenance Manual is one approved 

method. This section references other 

sections of the AMM. The applicable revision 

level of the referenced sections is that in 

effect on the effective date of this AD. 

Incorporating the new and more restrictive 

life limits and inspections into the ALS 

terminates the requirements of paragraphs (f) 

and (g) of this AD, and after incorporation 

has been done, the limitations required by 

paragraph (f) of this AD may be removed 

from the ALS. 

(i) Except as specified in paragraph (j) of 

this AD: After the actions specified in 

paragraph (h) of this AD have been 

accomplished, no alternative inspections or 

inspection intervals may be approved for the 

structural elements specified in the 

document listed in paragraph (h) of this AD. 

Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

(j)(1) The Manager, International Branch, 

ANM–116, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

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) AMOCs, approved previously in 

accordance with AD 2000–26–07, are 

approved as AMOCs for the corresponding 

requirements of this AD. 

Material Incorporated by Reference 

(k) None. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

November 14, 2005. 

Kalene C. Yanamura, 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–22970 Filed 11–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P