10360 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

Alternative Methods of Compliance

(c) An alternative method of compliance or

adjustment of the compliance time that

provides an acceptable level of safety may be

used if approved by the Manager, Seattle

Aircraft Certification Office (ACO), FAA.

Operators shall submit their requests through

an appropriate FAA Principal Maintenance

Inspector, who may add comments and then

send it to the Manager, Seattle ACO.

Note 2: Information concerning the

existence of approved alternative methods of

compliance with this AD, if any, may be

obtained from the Seattle ACO.

Special Flight Permits

(d) 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 to

a location where the requirements of this AD

can be accomplished.

Effective Date

(e) This amendment becomes effective on

March 22, 2001.

Issued in Renton, Washington, on February

8, 2001.

Vi L. Lipski,

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate,

Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 01–3695 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA–2000–8460; Notice No. 01–

02]

RIN 2120–AH17

Airworthiness Directives

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking

(NPRM); extension of comment period.

SUMMARY: This action extends the

comment period for an NPRM that was

published on January 12, 2001. In that

document, the FAA proposed to move

several standard provisions currently

found in every airworthiness directive

into its regulations pertaining to

airworthiness directives. This extension

is a result of a request from Helicopter

Association International to extend the

comment period to the proposal.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before March 29, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Address your comments to

the Docket Management System, U.S.

Department of Transportation, Room

Plaza 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590–0001. You must

identify the docket number FAA–2000–

8460 at the beginning of your

comments, and you should submit two

copies of your comments. If you wish to

receive confirmation that FAA received

your comments, include a selfaddressed, stamped postcard.

You may also submit comments

through the Internet to http://

dms.dot.gov. you may review the public

docket containing comments to these

proposed regulations in person in the

Dockets Office between 9 a.m. and 5

p.m., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays. The Dockets Office is

on the plaza level of the NASSIF

Building at the Department of

Transportation at the above address.

Also, you may review public dockets on

the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donald Byrne, Assistant Chief Counsel,

Regulations Division, AGC–200, Federal

Aviation Administration, 800

Independence Ave., SW., Washington,

DC 20591; telephone (202) 267–3073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Interested persons are invited to

participate in the making of the

proposed action by submitting such

written data, views, or arguments as

they may desire. Comments relating to

the environmental, energy, federalism,

or economic impact that might result

from adopting the proposals in this

document also are invited. Substantive

comments should be accompanied by

cost estimates. Comments must identify

the regulatory docket or notice number

and be submitted in duplicate to the

DOT Rules Docket address specified

above.

All comments received, as well as a

report summarizing each substantive

public contact with FAA personnel

concerning this proposed rulemaking,

will be filed in the docket. The docket

is available for public inspection before

and after the comment closing date.

All comments received on or before

the closing date will be considered by

the Administrator before taking action

on this proposed rulemaking. Comments

filed late will be considered as far as

possible without incurring expense or

delay. The proposals in this document

may be changed in light of the

comments received.

Commenters wishing the FAA to

acknowledge receipt of their comments

submitted in response to this document

must include a pre-addressed, stamped

postcard with those comments on which

the following statement is made:

‘‘Comments to Docket No. FAA–2000–

8460.’’ The postcard will be date

stamped and mailed to the commenter.

Availability of NPRMs

An electronic copy is available on the

Internet by taking the following steps:

(1) Go to the search function of the

Department of Transportation’s

electronic Docket Management System

(DMS) Web page (http://dms.dot.gov/

search).

(2) On the search page type in the last

four digits of the Docket number shown

at the beginning of this notice. Click on

‘‘search.’’

(3) On the next page, which contains

the Docket summary information for the

docket selected, click on the proposed

rule.

An electronic copy is also available

on the Internet through FAA’s web page

at http://www.faa.gov/avr/arm/nprm/

nprm.htm or the Federal Register’s web

page at http://www.access.gpo.gov/

suldocs/aces/aces140.html.

Further, a copy may be obtained by

submitting a written request to the

Federal Aviation Administration, Office

of Rulemaking, ARM–1, 800

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20591, or by calling

(202) 267–9680. Make sure to identify

the notice number or docket number of

this proposed rule.

Background

On November 29, 2000, the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA) issued

Notice No. 00–15, Airworthiness

Directives (66 FR 3382, January 12,

2001). Comments to that document were

to be received on or before February 12,

2001.

By letter dated January 31, 2001,

Helicopter Association International

requested that the FAA extend the

comment period for Notice No. 00–15

until March 14, 2001, to allow HAI to

comment on the proposed revisions to

part 39. Although HAI requests only a

30 day extension of the comment

period, the FAA believes a 45 day

extension would be adequate for HAI

and other interested persons to provide

comment to Notice No. 00–15.

Extension of Comment Period

In accordance with § 11.47 of Title 14,

Code of Federal Regulations, the FAA

has reviewed the petition made by HAI

for extension of the comment period to

Notice No. 00–15. HAI has shown an

interest in the proposed rule and good

cause for the extension. The FAA also

has determined that extension of the

comment period is in the public

interest, and that good cause exists for

taking this action.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 10361

Accordingly, the comment period for

Notice No. 00–15 is extended until

March 29, 2001.

Ronald T. Wojnar,

Acting Director, Aircraft Certification Service.

[FR Doc. 01–3884 Filed 2–12–01; 5:02 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. 2000–SW–54–AD; Amendment

39–12105; AD 2001–01–51]

RIN 2120–AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Bell

Helicopter Textron Canada Model 222,

222B, 222U, 230, and 430 Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: This document publishes in

the Federal Register an amendment

adopting Airworthiness Directive (AD)

2001–01–51, which was sent previously

to all known U.S. owners and operators

of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada

(BHTC) Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230,

and 430 helicopters by individual

letters. This AD requires visually

inspecting the main rotor hydraulic

actuator support (support) to verify the

presence of all dowel pins and sealant

between the support and transmission

and verifying the proper torque of each

attaching nut (nut). This amendment is

prompted by the failure of a support

resulting in an accident of a BHTC

Model 222U helicopter. All retaining

studs and shear pins were found

sheared or pulled out at the junction

between the support and the

transmission case. The actions specified

by this AD are intended to prevent

failure of the support and subsequent

loss of control of the helicopter.

DATES: Effective March 2, 2001, to all

persons except those persons to whom

it was made immediately effective by

Emergency AD 2001–01–51, issued on

January 5, 2001, which contained the

requirements of this amendment.

The incorporation by reference of

certain publications listed in the

regulations is approved by the Director

of the Federal Register as of March 2,

2001.

Comments for inclusion in the Rules

Docket must be received on or before

April 16, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in

triplicate to the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Office of the

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region,

Attention: Rules Docket No. 2000–SW–

54–AD, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Room

663, Fort Worth, Texas 76137. You may

also send comments electronically to

the Rules Docket at the following

address: 9-asw-adcomments@faa.gov.

The applicable service information

may be obtained from Bell Helicopter

Textron Canada, 12,800 Rue de l’Avenir,

Mirabel, Quebec JON1LO, telephone

(450) 437–2862 or (800) 363–8023, fax

(450) 433–0272. This information may

be examined at the FAA, Office of the

Regional Counsel, Southwest Region,

2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort

Worth, Texas; or at the Office of the

Federal Register, 800 North Capitol

Street, NW., suite 700, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim

Grigg, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA,

Rotorcraft Directorate, Regulations

Group, Fort Worth, Texas 76193–0111,

telephone (817) 222–5490, fax (817)

222–5961.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

January 5, 2001, the FAA issued

Emergency AD 2001–01–51 for BHTC

Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430

helicopters which requires visually

inspecting the support to verify the

presence of all dowel pins and sealant

between the support and the

transmission and verifying the proper

torque of each nut. That action was

prompted by the failure of a support

resulting in an accident of a BHTC

Model 222U helicopter. All retaining

studs and shear pins were found

sheared or pulled out at the junction

between the support and the

transmission case. This condition, if not

detected, could result in failure of the

support and subsequent loss of control

of the helicopter.

The FAA has reviewed BHTC Alert

Service Bulletin Nos. 222–00–86, 222U–

00–57, 230–00–18, and 430–00–17, all

dated May 19, 2000 (ASB’s), which

specify, within 25 hours time-in-service

(TIS), conducting a one-time inspection

of the support installation by

accomplishing a torque check of the

nuts. In addition, a revision to the

maintenance manual will introduce a

recurring torque check of the nuts.

Transport Canada, which is the

airworthiness authority for Canada,

classified these ASB’s as mandatory and

issued AD No. CF–2000–29 dated

September 6, 2000, to ensure the

continued airworthiness of these

helicopters in Canada.

Since the unsafe condition described

is likely to exist or develop on other

BHTC Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and

430 helicopters of the same type

designs, the FAA issued Emergency AD

2001–01–51 to prevent failure of the

support and subsequent loss of control

of the helicopter. The AD requires, at

specified time intervals, visually

inspecting the support to verify the

presence of all dowel pins and sealant

between the support and transmission

and verifying the proper torque of each

nut. Repairing or replacing any

unairworthy support, transmission case,

stud, or dowel pin and retorquing to

proper torque are required before further

flight. The actions must be

accomplished in accordance with the

ASB’s described previously. The short

compliance time involved is required

because the previously described

critical unsafe condition can adversely

affect the structural integrity of the

helicopter. Therefore, the actions

previously listed are required within 25

hours TIS, and this AD must be issued

immediately.

Since it was found that immediate

corrective action was required, notice

and opportunity for prior public

comment thereon were impracticable

and contrary to the public interest, and

good cause existed to make the AD

effective immediately by individual

letters issued on January 5, 2001, to all

known U.S. owners and operators of

BHTC Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and

430 helicopters. These conditions still

exist, and the AD is hereby published in

the Federal Register as an amendment

to section 39.13 of the Federal Aviation

Regulations (14 CFR 39.13) to make it

effective to all persons.

The FAA estimates that 145

helicopters of U.S. registry will be

affected by this AD, that it will take

approximately 1⁄2 work hour per

helicopter to inspect for proper torque,

and that the average labor rate is $60 per

work hour. The cost for the inspection

is estimated to be $4,350. Assuming 15

helicopters require removing the

support for additional inspections, it

would take approximately 6 additional

work hours at $60 per work hour and

$50 for parts at an additional total cost

of $410 per helicopter. Based on these

figures, the total cost impact of this AD

on U.S. operators is estimated to be

$10,500, assuming no supports have to

be replaced.

Comments Invited

Although this action is in the form of

a final rule that involves requirements

affecting flight safety and, thus, was not

preceded by notice and an opportunity

for public comment, comments are

invited on this rule. Interested persons

are invited to comment on this rule by

submitting such written data, views, or

arguments as they may desire.