AD 2006-13-15

This AD becomes effective on August 11, 2006.

As of August 11, 2006, the Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the regulation.

For service information identified in this AD, contact Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc., 4951 Airport Parkway, Suite 800, Addison, Texas 95001; telephone: (972) 934-5480; fax: (972) 934-5488, or Turbine Aircraft Services, Inc., 4550 Jimmy Doolittle Drive, Addison, Texas 75001; telephone: (972) 248-3108; facsimile: (972) 248-3321.

To view the AD docket, go to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001, or on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. The docket number is FAA-2006-23578; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-01-AD.

Andrew McAnaul, Aerospace Engineer, ASW-150 (c/o MIDO-43), 10100 Reunion Place, Suite 650, San Antonio, Texas 78216; telephone: (210) 308-3365; facsimile: (210) 308-3370.

On April 18, 2006, we issued a proposal to amend part 39 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 39) to include an AD that would apply to all Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2B series airplanes. This proposal was published in the Federal Register as a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on April 24, 2006 (71 FR 20915). We issued the supplemental NPRM to incorporate revised manufacturer service information that adds airplanes to the applicability, revises the serial numbers of the affected airplanes, and updates the manufacturer's contact information. The supplemental NPRM proposed to require you to do the following:

• Remove and visually inspect the wing attach barrel nuts, bolts, and retainers for cracks, corrosion, and fractures;

• Replace any cracked, corroded, or fractured wing attach barrel nuts, bolts, and retainers with new parts;

• Inspect reusable wing attach barrel nuts and bolts for deformation and irregularities in the threads;

• Check the minimum breakaway torque of reused wing attach barrel nuts;

• Replace any deformed or irregular wing attach barrel nuts or bolts with new parts; and

• Install new or reusable parts and torque to the correct value.

We provided the public the opportunity to participate in developing this AD. We received no comments on the proposal or on the determination of the cost to the public.

We have carefully reviewed the available data and determined that air safety and the public interest require adopting the AD as proposed except for minor editorial corrections. We have determined that these minor corrections:

• are consistent with the intent that was proposed in the NPRM for correcting the unsafe condition; and

• do not add any additional burden upon the public than was already proposed in the NPRM.

We estimate that this AD affects 399 airplanes in the U.S. registry.

We estimate the following costs to do the inspection:

We estimate the following costs to do any necessary replacements that will be required based on the results of the inspection. We have no way of determining the number of airplanes that may need this replacement:

The FAA is committed to updating the aviation community of expected costs associated with the MU-2B series airplane safety evaluation conducted in 2005. As a result of that commitment, the accumulating expected costs of all ADs related to the MU-2B series airplane safety evaluation may be found in the Final Report section at the following Web site: http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/small_airplanes/cos/mu2_foia_reading_library/.

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 AD.

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 the 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 other information as included in the Regulatory Evaluation) and placed it in the AD Docket. You may get a copy of this summary by sending a request to us at the address listed under ADDRESSES. Include “Docket No. FAA-2006-23578; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-01-AD” in your request.

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

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

2. FAA amends § 39.13 by adding the following new AD: