FR Doc 06-2852

[Federal Register: March 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 58)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 15017-15020]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27mr06-3]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2005-20453; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-270-AD;
Amendment 39-14524; AD 2006-06-15]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Model A318-100 Series Airplanes;
Model A319-100 Series Airplanes; Model A320-111 Airplanes; Model A320-
200 Series Airplanes; Model A321-100 Series Airplanes; and Model A321-
200 Series Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for
certain Airbus Model A318-100 series airplanes; Model A319-100 series
airplanes; Model A320-111 airplanes; Model A320-200 series airplanes;
Model A321-100 series airplanes; and Model A321-200 series airplanes.
This AD requires replacing the water drain valves in the forward and
aft cargo doors with new valves. This AD results from a report
indicating that, during a test of the fire extinguishing system, air
leakage through the water drain valves in the forward and aft cargo
doors reduced the concentration of fire extinguishing agent to below
the level required to suppress a fire. We are issuing this AD to
prevent air leakage through the water drain valves, which, in the event
of a fire in the forward or aft cargo compartment, could result in an
insufficient concentration of fire extinguishing agent and consequent
inability of the fire extinguishing system to suppress the fire.

DATES: This AD becomes effective May 1, 2006.
The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by
reference of a certain publication listed in the AD as of May 1, 2006.

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 Airbus, 1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac Cedex,
France, for service information identified in this AD.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Dulin, Aerospace Engineer,
International Branch, ANM-116, FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate,
1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98055-4056; telephone (425)
227-2141; 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 would apply to certain Airbus Model
A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes. That NPRM was published in
the Federal Register on March 3, 2005 (70 FR 10342). That NPRM proposed
to require replacing the water drain valves in the forward and aft
cargo doors with new valves.

Comments

We provided the public the opportunity to participate in the
development of this AD. We have considered the comments received.

Support for NPRM

The Air Line Pilots Association and United Airlines support the
NPRM.

Requests To Extend Compliance Time

Airbus states that the Direction G[eacute]n[eacute]rale de
l'Aviation Civile (DGAC), which is the airworthiness authority for
France, has issued French airworthiness directive F-2004-172 R1, dated
April 13, 2005, to extend the compliance time from April 30, 2005 to
December 31, 2005. (We referenced French airworthiness directive F-
2004-172, dated October 27, 2004, with a compliance time of 6 months in
the NPRM.) Airbus further states that our NPRM should not be more
restrictive than the French airworthiness directive. We infer the
commenter would like us to extend the compliance time to 14 months to
correspond with the revised French airworthiness directive.
Northwest Airlines (NWA) requests that we extend the compliance
time to 2 years to match the compliance time of related AD 2005-12-19.
NWA points out that both rulemaking actions are necessary to reduce the
rate of air renewal in the cargo compartments. NWA further states that
revising the compliance time in the NPRM would allow operators to
accomplish both modifications during the same maintenance visit,
eliminating the effect on line operations and potential for grounding
airplanes.
US Airways states that it agrees with the need to accomplish the
proposed changes to meet airworthiness standards; however, it has not
seen any data that lend this issue a high degree of urgency. U.S.
Airways recommends extending the compliance time to allow replacement
of the water drain valves at the next C-check or 18 months, whichever
is later, instead of the proposed 6-month compliance time. U.S. Airways
adds that this change would reduce the economic impact to operators,
such as the commenter, who would be forced to take airplanes out of
revenue service in order to meet the 6-month window.
We agree with Airbus and have revised paragraph (f) of this AD
accordingly. We referenced French airworthiness directive F-2004-172 in
the NPRM because French airworthiness directive F-2004-172 R1 was
issued after we published our NPRM. Consequently, we have also revised
paragraph (i) of this AD to reference French airworthiness directive F-
2004-172 R1, dated April 13, 2005. In developing an appropriate
compliance time for this action, we considered not only the degree of
urgency associated with addressing the subject unsafe condition, but
the DGAC's recommendation for an appropriate compliance time, the
availability of required parts, and the practical aspect of installing
the required modification within an interval of time that corresponds
to the typical scheduled maintenance for the majority of affected
operators. We also considered the time required for the rulemaking
process. In addition, NWA and US Airways provided no data to indicate
that a further extension of the compliance time will ensure safety. In
consideration of these items, we have determined that compliance within
14 months after the effective date of this AD will provide an
acceptable level of safety and is an appropriate interval of time
wherein the required actions can be accomplished

[[Page 15018]]

during scheduled maintenance intervals for the majority of affected
operators.
While we agree with NWA that the actions required by both this AD
and AD 2005-12-19 are necessary to correct the unsafe condition, we do
not agree to match the compliance times of the ADs. The compliance
times of these ADs instead match the compliance times of the
corresponding French airworthiness directives. Furthermore, those
compliance times differ because the number of affected airplanes and
overall exposure to the unsafe condition is not the same for both ADs.
Also, we note that the new 14-month compliance time from the effective
date of this AD is closer to the compliance time of AD 2005-12-19,
which is within 24 months after July 29, 2005. However, according to
the provisions of paragraph (h) of this AD, we may approve a request to
adjust the compliance time if the request includes data that justify
that a different compliance time would provide an acceptable level of
safety.

Request To Reference Later-Approved Service Bulletin

United Airlines states that the effectivity of Airbus Service
Bulletin A320-52-1124, dated May 6, 2004, is not up to date, and that
Airbus issued Telex SEM4/914.482/05 announcing it plans to publish a
revision to the service bulletin to correct the effectivity. United
Airlines therefore requests that we reference any later-approved
service bulletin in the NPRM.
We partially agree. As policy, we do not reference ``later-
approved'' service bulletins in ADs. However, since Airbus subsequently
issued Revision 01, dated May 31, 2005, to Service Bulletin A320-52-
1124, we agree to reference Revision 01 in paragraph (f) of this AD.
The procedures in Revision 01 of the service bulletin are essentially
the same as those in the original issue. Therefore, we have added a new
paragraph (g) to this AD to give credit for actions done in accordance
with the original issue of the service bulletin and have reidentified
the subsequent paragraphs accordingly. We point out that referencing
Revision 01 does not change the applicability specified in paragraph
(c) of this AD, since the applicability depends only on whether certain
modifications are accomplished in production or in-service.

Request To Combine Related Rulemaking

US Airways notes that Airbus Service Bulletin A320-21-1141,
Revision 01, dated December 17, 2004, is mentioned in French
airworthiness directive F-2004-172, dated October 27, 2004, and is
related to Airbus Service Bulletin A320-52-1124. (We referenced French
airworthiness directive F-2004-172 and Airbus Service Bulletin A320-52-
1124 in the NPRM.) US Airways states that Airbus Service Bulletin A320-
21-1141 is also considered necessary to accomplish the restriction of
airflow through the aft cargo compartment. US Airways adds that since
ADs are issued to address safety concerns, and not portions of a safety
concern, both modifications should be mandated by the same AD. US
Airways states that combining these requirements into one AD also
provides the added benefit of a central reference point in the case
that an operator may need to make a future determination on whether the
safety concern was fully addressed on an airplane or fleet of
airplanes. US Airways adds that issuing separate ADs for the same
safety concern seems to complicate the process.
We acknowledge US Airways' request; however, Airbus Service
Bulletin A320-21-1141, Revision 01, dated December 17, 2004, was
referenced in AD 2005-12-19, amendment 39-14135 (70 FR 36476, June 24,
2005), which we issued on June 14, 2005. We issued AD 2005-12-19 to
address air leakage around the aft cargo temperature sensor, in
response to French airworthiness directive F-2004-123, dated July 21,
2004. That AD requires replacing the cargo ventilation extraction duct
at frame 65 with a new duct, and relocating the temperature sensor in
the aft cargo compartment. The compliance time is 24 months. In light
of the fact that the compliance times are different, and the actions
were addressed in two separate French airworthiness directives, the
rulemaking actions will not be combined. No change to this AD is made
in this regard.

Request To Reference Part Numbers

The Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA) requests
that we either identify the manufacturer of the affected water drain
valves and the part numbers, or publish the referenced service bulletin
with the AD. As justification for its request, MARPA states that the
affected water drain valves are identified in proprietary service
information that is not available to the general public. The commenter
asserts that, under 14 CFR 21.303, there are many valves that could be
approved replacement parts for the affected water drain valves. If
replacement parts do exist, MARPA adds that they may contain the same
defect as those addressed in the NPRM. MARPA further states that repair
facilities and part houses, which do not have access to proprietary
service information to determine the applicability of the AD, may
inadvertently provide defective parts manufacturer approval (PMA)
valves in the future.
We agree to identify the part number of the affected water drain
valves and have revised paragraph (f) of this AD accordingly. We also
concur with MARPA's general request that, if we know that an unsafe
condition also exists in PMA parts, the AD should address those parts,
as well as the original parts. At this time, we are not aware of other
PMA parts equivalent to the affected water drain valves. MARPA's
remarks are timely in that the Transport Airplane Directorate currently
is in the process of reviewing this issue as it applies to transport
category airplanes. We acknowledge that there may be other ways of
addressing this issue to ensure that unsafe PMA parts are identified
and addressed. Once we have thoroughly examined all aspects of this
issue, including input from industry, and have made a final
determination, we will consider whether our policy regarding addressing
PMA parts in ADs needs to be revised. We consider that to delay this AD
action would be inappropriate, since we have determined that an unsafe
condition exists and that replacement of certain parts must be
accomplished to ensure continued safety. Therefore, no additional
change has been made to the final rule in this regard.

Explanation of Change to Applicability

We have revised the applicability of this AD to identify model
designations as published in the most recent type certificate data
sheet for the affected models.

Clarification of Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC) Paragraph

We have revised 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.

Conclusion

We have carefully reviewed the available data, including the
comments 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 affects about 434 airplanes of U.S. registry. The actions
in this AD take about 3 to 5 work hours per

[[Page 15019]]

airplane, depending on airplane configuration, at an average labor rate
of $65 per work hour. Required parts cost about $120 to $200 per
airplane, depending on airplane configuration. Based on these figures,
the estimated cost of the AD for U.S. operators is between $136,710 and
$227,850, or between $315 and $525 per airplane.

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 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, Incorporation by
reference, Safety.

Adoption of the Amendment

0
Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the Administrator,
the FAA amends 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 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends Sec. 39.13 by
adding the following new airworthiness directive (AD):

2006-06-15 Airbus: Amendment 39-14524. Docket No. FAA-2005-20453;
Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-270-AD.

Effective Date

(a) This AD becomes effective May 1, 2006.

Affected ADs

(b) None.

Applicability

Table 1.--Applicability
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But not having
the following
Having the following Or the following Airbus Airbus
Airbus model-- Airbus modification service bulletin modification
installed in production-- incorporated in service-- installed in
production--
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A318-111 and -112 airplanes............ Not applicable............ Not applicable........... 33232
A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, 25642 or 26213............ A320-52-1088............. 33232
-132, and -133 airplanes.
A320-111 airplanes; and Model A320-211, 26213 or 26603............ A320-52-1088............. 33232
-212, -214, -231, -232, and -233
airplanes.
A321-111, -112, and -131 airplanes; and 26213 or 26603............ A320-52-1088............. 33232
Model A321-211, -212, -213, -231, and -
232 airplanes.
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Unsafe Condition

(d) This AD was prompted by a report indicating that, during a
test of the fire extinguishing system, air leakage through the water
drain valves in the forward and aft cargo doors reduced the
concentration of fire extinguishing agent to below the level
required to suppress a fire. We are issuing this AD to prevent air
leakage through the water drain valves, which, in the event of a
fire in the forward or aft cargo compartment, could result in an
insufficient concentration of fire extinguishing agent and
consequent inability of the fire extinguishing system to suppress
the fire.

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.

Replacement of Water Drain Valves

(f) Within 14 months after the effective date of this AD,
replace the water drain valves having part number (P/N) ABS0341-2-01
in the forward and aft cargo doors with new valves that close at a
lower differential pressure having P/N ABS0341-2-02, by doing all of
the applicable actions specified in the Accomplishment Instructions
of Airbus Service Bulletin A320-52-1124, Revision 01, dated May 31,
2005.

Credit for Previous Service Bulletin

(g) Actions done before the effective date of this AD in
accordance with Airbus Service Bulletin A320-52-1124, May 6, 2004,
are acceptable for compliance with the requirements of paragraph (f)
of this AD.

Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)

(h)(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 14 CFR
39.19 on any airplane to which the AMOC applies, notify the
appropriate principal inspector in the FAA Flight Standards
Certificate Holding District Office.

Related Information

(i) French airworthiness directive F-2004-172 R1, dated April
13, 2005, also addresses the subject of this AD.

[[Page 15020]]

Material Incorporated by Reference

(j) You must use Airbus Service Bulletin A320-52-1124, Revision
01, dated May 31, 2005, to perform the actions that are required by
this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. The Director of the
Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of this
document in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.
Contact Airbus, 1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac Cedex,
France, for a copy of this service information. You may review
copies at the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., room PL-401, Nassif
Building, Washington, DC; on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov; or

at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For
information on the availability of this material at the NARA, call
(202) 741-6030, or go to http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html
.

Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 10, 2006.
Kalene C. Yanamura,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification
Service.
[FR Doc. 06-2852 Filed 3-24-06; 8:45 am]

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