[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47592-47594]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19249]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 2014 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 47592]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA-2014-0566; Directorate Identifier 2014-NM-041-AD]
RIN 2120-AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for
certain Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 2000 and FALCON 2000EX
airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a design review, which
revealed that the forward servicing compartment (FSC) is configured
with tie-down points. This proposed AD would require inspecting the FSC
for installed tie-down points, and removing those tie-down points. We
are proposing this AD to detect and correct installed tie-down points,
which could lead to inadvertent use of the FSC as a cargo compartment,
which could result in damage to the structure of the airplane or
potential risk of fire.
DATES: We must receive comments on this proposed AD by September 29,
2014.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, using the procedures found in 14 CFR
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
For service information identified in this proposed AD, contact
Dassault Falcon Jet, P.O. Box 2000, South Hackensack, NJ 07606;
telephone 201-440-6700; Internet http://www.dassaultfalcon.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.
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-2014-
0566; 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 proposed AD, the regulatory evaluation, any comments
received, and other information. The street address for the Docket
Operations office (telephone 800-647-5527) is in the ADDRESSES section.
Comments will be available in the AD docket shortly after receipt.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Rodriguez, Aerospace Engineer,
International Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA,
1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-1137;
fax (425) 227-1149.
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-2014-0566;
Directorate Identifier 2014-NM-041-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 we
receive about this proposed AD.
Discussion
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical
Agent for the Member States of the European Community, has issued EASA
Airworthiness Directive 2014-0027R1, dated February 5, 2014 (referred
to after this as the Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information, or
``the MCAI''), to correct an unsafe condition for certain Dassault
Aviation Model FALCON 2000 and FALCON 2000EX airplanes. The MCAI
states:
The Forward Servicing Compartment (FSC) of the Falcon 2000 is an
unpressurized service compartment located between fuselage frames 26
and 33. This compartment is accessible from a lockable external door
located in the lower aft fuselage.
A design review has brought to light that the compartment is
configured with tie-down points, which were used by operators to fix
loads (e.g. ski or golf bags) in that compartment. However, the FSC
has not been designed and consequently demonstrated as being
compliant with cargo compartment airworthiness requirements.
This condition, if not corrected, could lead to inadvertent use
of the FSC as [a] cargo compartment, which could result in damage to
the structure of the aeroplane or potential risk of fire.
To address this potential unsafe condition, Dassault Aviation
issued Service Bulletin (SB) F2000-407 and SB F2000EX-289, as
applicable, which provide instructions for removal of the tie-down
points.
For the reasons described above, this [EASA] AD requires removal
of the tie-down points from the FSC.
Note: Operators are also reminded about the intended function of
the FSC.
This [EASA] AD is revised to clarify the AD Applicability and to
correct the [type certificate data sheet] TCDS Number.
Required actions include inspecting for installed tie-down points.
You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-2014-
0566.
Relevant Service Information
Dassault Aviation has issued Dassault Service Bulletin F2000-407,
Revision 1, dated January 29, 2014; and Dassault Service Bulletin
F2000EX-289, Revision 1, dated January 29, 2014. The actions described
in this service information are
[[Page 47593]]
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 another
country, and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant
to our bilateral agreement with the State of Design Authority, we have
been notified of the unsafe condition described in the MCAI and service
information referenced above. We are proposing this AD because we
evaluated all pertinent information and determined an unsafe condition
exists and is likely to exist or develop on other products of these
same type designs.
``Contacting the Manufacturer'' Paragraph in This Proposed AD
Since late 2006, we have included a standard paragraph titled
``Airworthy Product'' in all MCAI ADs in which the FAA develops an AD
based on a foreign authority's AD.
The MCAI or referenced service information in an FAA AD often
directs the owner/operator to contact the manufacturer for corrective
actions, such as a repair. Briefly, the Airworthy Product paragraph
allowed owners/operators to use corrective actions provided by the
manufacturer if those actions were FAA-approved. In addition, the
paragraph stated that any actions approved by the State of Design
Authority (or its delegated agent) are considered to be FAA-approved.
In an NPRM having Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-101-AD (78 FR
78285, December 26, 2013), we proposed to prevent the use of repairs
that were not specifically developed to correct the unsafe condition,
by requiring that the repair approval provided by the State of Design
Authority or its delegated agent specifically refer to the FAA AD. This
change was intended to clarify the method of compliance and to provide
operators with better visibility of repairs that are specifically
developed and approved to correct the unsafe condition. In addition, we
proposed to change the phrase ``its delegated agent'' to include a
design approval holder (DAH) with State of Design Authority design
organization approval (DOA), as applicable, to refer to a DAH
authorized to approve required repairs for the proposed AD.
One commenter to the NPRM having Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-
101-AD (78 FR 78285, December 26, 2013) stated the following: ``The
proposed wording, being specific to repairs, eliminates the
interpretation that Airbus messages are acceptable for approving minor
deviations (corrective actions) needed during accomplishment of an AD
mandated Airbus service bulletin.''
This comment has made the FAA aware that some operators have
misunderstood or misinterpreted the Airworthy Product paragraph to
allow the owner/operator to use messages provided by the manufacturer
as approval of deviations during the accomplishment of an AD-mandated
action. The Airworthy Product paragraph does not approve messages or
other information provided by the manufacturer for deviations to the
requirements of the AD-mandated actions. The Airworthy Product
paragraph only addresses the requirement to contact the manufacturer
for corrective actions for the identified unsafe condition and does not
cover deviations from other AD requirements. However, deviations to AD-
required actions are addressed in 14 CFR 39.17, and anyone may request
the approval for an alternative method of compliance to the AD-required
actions using the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19.
To address this misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the
Airworthy Product paragraph, we have changed the paragraph and retitled
it ``Contacting the Manufacturer.'' This paragraph now clarifies that
for any requirement in this proposed AD to obtain corrective actions
from a manufacturer, the actions must be accomplished using a method
approved by the FAA, the EASA, or Dassault Aviation's EASA DOA.
The Contacting the Manufacturer paragraph also clarifies that, if
approved by the DOA, the approval must include the DOA-authorized
signature. The DOA signature indicates that the data and information
contained in the document are EASA-approved, which is also FAA-
approved. Messages and other information provided by the manufacturer
that do not contain the DOA-authorized signature approval are not EASA-
approved, unless EASA directly approves the manufacturer's message or
other information.
This clarification does not remove flexibility previously afforded
by the Airworthy Product paragraph. Consistent with long-standing FAA
policy, such flexibility was never intended for required actions. This
is also consistent with the recommendation of the Airworthiness
Directive Implementation Aviation Rulemaking Committee to increase
flexibility in complying with ADs by identifying those actions in
manufacturers' service instructions that are ``Required for
Compliance'' with ADs. We continue to work with manufacturers to
implement this recommendation. But once we determine that an action is
required, any deviation from the requirement must be approved as an
alternative method of compliance.
Costs of Compliance
We estimate that this proposed AD affects 247 airplanes of U.S.
registry.
We also estimate that it would take about 2 work-hours per product
to comply with the basic requirements of this proposed AD. The average
labor rate is $85 per work-hour. Required parts would cost about $5 per
product. Based on these figures, we estimate the cost of this proposed
AD on U.S. operators to be $43,225, or $175 per product.
According to the manufacturer, some of the costs of this proposed
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
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;
[[Page 47594]]
2. Is not a ``significant rule'' under the 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.
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
0
1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701.
Sec. 39.13 [Amended]
0
2. The FAA amends Sec. 39.13 by adding the following new airworthiness
directive (AD):
Dassault Aviation: Docket No. FAA-2014-0566; Directorate Identifier
2014-NM-041-AD.
(a) Comments Due Date
We must receive comments by September 29, 2014.
(b) Affected ADs
None.
(c) Applicability
This AD applies to the Dassault Aviation airplanes identified in
paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this AD, certificated in any
category.
(1) Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 2000 airplanes, having serial
numbers (S/Ns) 1 through 231 inclusive.
(2) Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 2000EX airplanes, having S/Ns
1 through 262 inclusive, and S/Ns 601 through 604 inclusive.
(d) Subject
Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 25, Equipment/
Furnishings.
(e) Reason
This AD was prompted by a design review, which revealed that the
forward servicing compartment (FSC) is configured with tie-down
points. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct installed tie-
down points, which could lead to inadvertent use of the FSC as a
cargo compartment, which could result in damage to the structure of
the airplane or potential risk of fire.
(f) Compliance
Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified,
unless already done.
(g) Inspection and Removal
(1) Within 440 flight hours or 9 months after the effective date
of this AD, whichever occurs first, inspect the FSC for installed
tie-down points, in accordance with the Accomplishment Instructions
of Dassault Service Bulletin F2000-407, Revision 1, dated January
29, 2014; or Dassault Service Bulletin F2000EX-289, Revision 1,
dated January 29, 2014; as applicable.
(2) If it is determined from the inspection required by
paragraph (g)(1) of this AD that tie-down points are installed,
within the compliance time specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this AD,
remove the tie-down points from the FSC, in accordance with the
Accomplishment Instructions of Dassault Service Bulletin F2000-407,
Revision 1, dated January 29, 2014; or Dassault Service Bulletin
F2000EX-289, Revision 1, dated January 29, 2014; as applicable.
(h) Credit for Previous Actions
This paragraph provides credit for actions required by
paragraphs (g)(1) and (g)(2) of this AD, if those actions were
performed before the effective date of this AD using Dassault
Service Bulletin F2000-407, dated December 17, 2013; or Dassault
Service Bulletin F2000EX-289, dated December 17, 2013; which are not
incorporated by reference in this AD.
(i) Other FAA AD Provisions
The following provisions also apply to this AD:
(1) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs): The Manager,
International Branch, ANM-116, 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 International
Branch, send it to ATTN: Tom Rodriguez, Aerospace Engineer,
International Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA,
1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-
1137; fax (425) 227-1149. Information may be emailed to: [email protected]. 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. The AMOC approval letter must
specifically reference this AD.
(2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any requirement in this AD
to obtain corrective actions from a manufacturer, the action must be
accomplished using a method approved by the Manager, International
Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA; or the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA); or Dassault Aviation's EASA
Design Organization Approval (DOA). If approved by the DOA, the
approval must include the DOA-authorized signature.
(j) Related Information
(1) Refer to Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information
(MCAI) European Aviation Safety Agency Airworthiness Directive 2014-
0027R1, dated February 5, 2014, for related information. This MCAI
may be found in the AD docket on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-
2014-0566.
(2) For service information identified in this AD, contact
Dassault Falcon Jet, P.O. Box 2000, South Hackensack, NJ 07606;
telephone 201-440-6700; Internet http://www.dassaultfalcon.com. You
may view this 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.
Issued in Renton, Washington, on August 4, 2014.
Jeffrey E. Duven,
Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-19249 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
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