AD 2005-26-10

This AD becomes effective January 31, 2006.

You may examine the AD docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov or in Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC.

Peter Hakala, Aerospace Engineer, Special Certification Office, FAA, Rotorcraft Directorate, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76193; telephone (817) 222-5145; fax (817) 222-5785.

The FAA proposed to amend 14 CFR part 39 with a proposed AD. The proposed AD applies to certain ECi cylinder assemblies, P/N AEL65102 series, with casting P/N AEL65099, installed on Lycoming Engines models 320, 360, and 540 series, parallel valve reciprocating engines. Parallel valve Lycoming reciprocating engines are identified by the intake and exhaust valves in a parallel configuration. We published the proposed AD in the Federal Register on September 9, 2005 (70 FR 53586). That action proposed to require replacing these ECi cylinder assemblies.

You may examine the docket that contains the AD, any comments received, and any final disposition in person at the Docket Management Facility Docket Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Docket Office (telephone (800) 647-5227) is located on the plaza level of the Department of Transportation Nassif Building at the street address stated in ADDRESSES. Comments will be available in the AD docket shortly after the DMS receives them.

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

One commenter, a law office representing ECi, requests we extend the proposed AD comment period an additional 90 days. We do not agree. We have worked with ECi for the past four years regarding the safety and airworthiness issues with the affected ECi cylinder assemblies. ECi is very familiar with the problems with these cylinder assemblies. ECi published Service Bulletin No. 05-08, dated September 1, 2005, for the identification and warranty of the affected cylinder assemblies. Evidence of ECi's awareness of the problem is confirmed by the extensive correspondence with the FAA regarding the service difficulties with P/N AEL65102 “Classic Cast” cylinder assemblies. For these reasons, and because of the minimal amount of comments received (two) on the proposed AD, we find it unnecessary to extend the proposed AD comment period.

One commenter, ECi, requests that we allow affected cylinder assemblies to be removed at the normal engine operating time-between-overhaul. We do not agree. We have carefully reviewed ECi's request. Both ECi and the FAA participated in the Alloytek Metallurgical Services, Inc. examination and analysis. The examination and analysis showed that the failure mode of the ECi cylinder assemblies, P/N AEL65102, is most likely due to metal fatigue. The proposed AD required replacing affected cylinder assemblies at no later than 800 operating hours-in-service. The failure data records show that a longer operating time for the affected cylinder assemblies would jeopardize aircraft safety. We have not changed the AD.

We have carefully reviewed the available data, including the comments received, and determined that air safety and the public interest require adopting the AD as proposed.

There were 9,879 ECi cylinder assemblies produced of the affected design available to the worldwide fleet. ECi reported that about fifteen percent of their cylinder assemblies go to foreign countries. We estimate ten percent of the remaining cylinders were never installed or are already removed from service, leaving 7,557 cylinder assemblies in service in the United States. We estimate that 1,574 Lycoming engines are in the United States with the subject cylinder assemblies installed. We estimate that it will take about two work hours per engine to perform the aircraft inspections of the cylinder assemblies for applicability, and that the average labor rate is $65 per work hour. From the Lycoming Engines “Removal and Installation Labor Allowance Guidebook”, dated May 2000, the complete cylinder replacement for a four cylinder engine takes 12 hours, while the complete cylinder replacement for a six cylinder engine takes 16 hours. Required parts will cost about $1,000 per cylinder assembly. Based on these figures, we estimate that the total cost of the AD to U.S. operators to be $9,152,140. ECi indicated that they might give operators and repair stations credit for returned cylinder assemblies toward the purchase of new ECi cylinder assemblies.

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.

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 summary of the costs to comply with this AD and placed it in the AD Docket. You may get a copy of this summary at the address listed under ADDRESSES.

Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the Federal Aviation Administration amends 14 CFR part 39 as follows:

1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:

2. The FAA amends § 39.13 by adding the following new airworthiness directive: