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AGENCY:
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION:
Final rule; request for comments.
SUMMARY:
The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Canada Limited Partnership Model BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of a missing pintle fuse pin in the left-hand (LH) main landing gear (MLG) discovered during scheduled maintenance. This AD requires doing an inspection of the MLG pintle housing assembly to verify that the pintle fuse pins are present and correctly installed, and corrective actions if necessary, as specified in a Transport Canada Emergency AD, which is incorporated by reference. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
DATES:
This AD is effective September 20, 2024.
The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of September 20, 2024.
The FAA must receive comments on this AD by October 21, 2024.
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 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: Deliver to Mail address above between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
AD Docket: You may examine the AD docket at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2131; or in person at Docket Operations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The AD docket contains this final rule, the mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI), any comments received, and other information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed above.
Material Incorporated by Reference:
- For Transport Canada material identified in this AD, contact Transport Canada, Transport Canada National Aircraft Certification, 159 Cleopatra Drive, Nepean, Ontario K1A 0N5, Canada; telephone 888-663-3639; emailTC.AirworthinessDirectives-Consignesdenavigabilite.TC@tc.gc.ca; website at tc.canada.ca/en/aviation.
- You may view this material at the FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 206-231-3195. It is also available atregulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2131.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Fatin Saumik, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 516-228-7300; email 9-avs-nyaco-cos@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites you to send any written data, views, or arguments about this final rule. Send your comments to an address listed under the ADDRESSES section. Include “Docket No. FAA-2024-2131; Project Identifier MCAI-2024-00445-T” at the beginning of your comments. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion of the final rule, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. The FAA will consider all comments received by the closing date and may amend this final rule because of those comments.
Except for Confidential Business Information (CBI) as described in the following paragraph, and other information as described in 14 CFR 11.35, the FAA will post all comments received, without change, to regulations.gov, including any personal information you provide. The agency will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal contact received about this final rule.
Confidential Business Information
CBI is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this AD contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to this AD, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing CBI as “PROPIN.” The FAA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of this AD. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Fatin Saumik, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 516-228-7300; email 9-avs-nyaco-cos@faa.gov. Any commentary that the FAA receives which is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking.
Background
Transport Canada, which is the aviation authority for Canada, has issued Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28, dated August 1, 2024 (Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an unsafe condition for certain Model BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 airplanes. The MCAI states that during scheduled maintenance of an in-service airplane, one of the pintle fuse pins (part number C01677412-001) in the LH MLG was discovered missing. Pintle fuse pins may also be damaged due to being incorrectly installed. If a missing or damaged pintle fuse pin is not discovered immediately, it would lead to a significant redistribution of loads in the MLG assembly and reduce the capability of the MLG assembly to withstand those loads. This condition, if not corrected, could potentially result in the total collapse of the MLG during takeoff.
The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2131.
Material Incorporated by Reference Under 1 CFR Part 51
Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28 specifies procedures for performing a detail visual inspection of the MLG pintle housing assembly (left- and right-hand) for missing and incorrectly installed pintle fuse pins and corrective actions, if necessary. Corrective actions include contacting Airbus Canada Limited Partnership to report incorrectly installed or missing pintle fuse pins and to obtain approved disposition if any pintle fuse pins are missing or incorrectly installed. This material is reasonably available because the interested parties have access to it through their normal course of business or by the means identified in the ADDRESSES section.
FAA's Determination
This product has been approved by the aviation authority of another country and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant to the FAA's bilateral agreement with this State of Design Authority, it has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition described in the MCAI referenced above. The FAA is issuing this AD after determining that the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop on other products of the same type design.
Requirements of This AD
This AD requires accomplishing the actions specified in Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28 described previously, except for any differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this AD.
Explanation of Required Compliance Information
In the FAA's ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency of the AD process, the FAA developed a process to use some civil aviation authority (CAA) ADs as the primary source of information for compliance with requirements for corresponding FAA ADs. The FAA has been coordinating this process with manufacturers and CAAs. As a result, Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28 is incorporated by reference in this AD. This AD requires compliance with Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28 in its entirety through that incorporation, except for any differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this AD. Material required by Transport Canada Emergency AD CF-2024-28 for compliance will be available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2131 after this AD is published.
Justification for Immediate Adoption and Determination of the Effective Date
Section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) authorizes agencies to dispense with notice and comment procedures for rules when the agency, for “good cause,” finds that those procedures are “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” Under this section, an agency, upon finding good cause, may issue a final rule without providing notice and seeking comment prior to issuance. Further, section 553(d) of the APA authorizes agencies to make rules effective in less than thirty days, upon a finding of good cause.
An unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption of this AD without providing an opportunity for public comments prior to adoption. The FAA has found that the risk to the flying public justifies forgoing notice and comment prior to adoption of this rule because Transport Canada issued an emergency AD stating that there was a missing pintle fuse pin discovered during scheduled maintenance. A missing or damaged pintle fuse pin would lead to a significant redistribution of loads in the MLG assembly and reduce the capability of the MLG assembly to withstand those loads, potentially resulting in the total collapse of the MLG during takeoff. Additionally, the compliance time in this AD is shorter than the time necessary for the public to comment and for publication of the final rule. Accordingly, notice and opportunity for prior public comment are impracticable and contrary to the public interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b).
In addition, the FAA finds that good cause exists pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d) for making this amendment effective in less than 30 days, for the same reasons the FAA found good cause to forgo notice and comment.
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
The requirements of the RFA do not apply when an agency finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 to adopt a rule without prior notice and comment. Because the FAA has determined that it has good cause to adopt this rule without notice and comment, RFA analysis is not required.
Costs of Compliance
The FAA estimates that this AD affects 129 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with this AD:
Estimated Costs for Required Actions
| Labor cost | Parts cost | Cost per product | Cost on U.S. operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 work-hour × $85 per hour = $85 | $0 | $85 | $10,965 |
Estimated Costs of On-Condition Actions
| Labor cost | Parts cost | Cost per product |
|---|---|---|
| 2 work-hours × $85 per hour = $170 | * $3,500 | $3,670 |
| * There are 8 pintle fuse pins per airplane. The FAA has no way of determining the number of pins that might need to be installed on each airplane. |