Current Regulatory Activity

Air Safety Week, May 24, 2004

This is a selective listing of items deemed particularly important.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 11 Final Rule FR Doc 04-10242 AD 2004-09-21 Structural system safety

Summary of Situation: Saab 200 series airplanes. Requires inspection of windshield wiper assemblies and replacement with new wiper spoilers to prevent failure of the windshield wiper assembly, which could result in loss of visibility, damage to the propeller(s) and/or engine(s), or penetration of the fuselage and consequent rapid depressurization of the airplane. Action Date & Comments: Effective June 15. Note the damage from only a wiper blade. This case is included as an illustration of how a seemingly minor vibration problem can lead to attention-getting damage. FAA is mandating compliance with Saab service bulletin (SB). Six hours work per airplane; three airplanes in U.S. registry.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 11 Final Rule FR Doc 04-10179 AD 2004-09-30 Electrical system safety

Summary of Situation: Raytheon Aircraft Company Model 1900C airplanes. Requires replacement of 200-amp circuit breaker (CB) with 60-amp CB, to prevent heat damage to electrical wiring in and around the landing gear electrical system components.

Action Date & Comments: Effective June 8. Apparent design defect (note the CB change required). FAA says the 200-amp CB did not protect against welded landing gear relay contacts. Surrounding electrical system components include prop de-ice, surface de-ice, flaps and left-hand windshield anti-ice. A classic cascading damage scenario. Affects 25 airplanes in U.S. registry.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 11 Final Rule FR Doc 04-10250 AD 2004-03-14 R1 Structural safety

Summary of Situation: Bombardier DHC-8 series airplanes. Requires action to find and fix damage to prevent failure of rear spar fittings which could result in loss of the wing (emphasis added).

Action Date & Comments: Effective May 26. FAA action mandates compliance with a revised Bombardier SB.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 11 FR Doc 04-10249 Final Rule Electrical system safety

Summary of Situation: Gulfstream Aerospace Model 1125 airplanes. Requires replacement of low-voltage sensing relays and replacing CBs to prevent loss of primary attitude and directional gyros, which provide position information to the flight crew.

Action Date & Comments: Effective June 15. This action has the appearance of a major engineering breakdown and certification failure. Action affects 29 airplanes in U.S. registry

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 11 Final Rule FR Doc 04-10251 AD 2004-09-33 Fire protection

Summary of Situation: Boeing B747-400 airplanes. Requires inspection and corrective action of fire extinguishing tube to prevent lack of fire extinguishing agent and consequent un-contained fire in the aft cargo compartment.

Action Date & Comments: Effective June 15. FAA is mandating compliance with Boeing SB. Note that ETOPS (extended operations) flights are predicated on viable fire protection for up to 195 minutes in event of a cargo bay fire. Action affects 416 airplanes worldwide.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 7 NPRM FR Doc 04-10380 Mid-air collision avoidance

Summary of Situation: Thales Avionics vertical speed indicator/traffic alert and collision avoidance system (VSI/TCAS). Requires airplane flight manual (AFM) revision advising aircrews they should ignore a resolution advisory (RA) fail message and maintain altitude per the aural guidance of their TCAS. Also apply software fix.

Action Date & Comments: Comments due June 7. This is the FAA fix not sighted at the time Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) came to grips with the problem (see ASW, April 19, April 6 entry). Imagine a holding stack of airplanes with airplanes within that stack descending in close proximity to each other, above and below. If one pilot suffers a momentarily fatigued mental blank, disaster could occur. It's not likely that he'll have time to drag out and consult the AFM change being specified as an interim cure-all.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 7 NPRM FR Doc 04-10431 Electrical system safety

Summary of Situation: Embraer EMB-135 and EMB-145 airplanes. Requires replacing tail boom strobe light harness to prevent simultaneous failure of multiple avionics systems in the event of a lightning strike. Action Date & Comments: Comments due June 7. Embraer has issued SBs outlining corrective action. Cost, about $1,000 per airplane. Affects 548 airplanes in U.S. registry.

Date posted on Federal Register and Document Type: May 7 NPRM FR Doc 04-10381 Flight control safety

Summary of Situation: Airbus A300-600 and A310 airplanes. Requires inspections to correct/replace frayed or corroded control cables for elevator and rudder. Action Date & Comments: Comments due June 7. FAA is mandating compliance with manufacturer SB. Action affects 174 airplanes in U.S. registry.