AD 2006-14-01

This AD becomes effective August 9, 2006.

The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the AD as of August 9, 2006.

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.

Dan Rodina, Aerospace Engineer, International Branch, ANM-116, FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98055-4056; telephone (425) 227-2125; fax (425) 227-1149.

You may examine the 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.

The FAA issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR part 39 to include an AD that would apply to certain Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes, and Model A340-541 and A340-642 airplanes. That supplemental NPRM was published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2006 (71 FR 15073). That supplemental NPRM proposed to require inspecting to determine if certain emergency escape slides/slide rafts (referred to as slide/rafts) are installed in certain crew/passenger doors; and, if so, performing a one-time inspection to determine if the electrical harnesses of the slide/rafts are properly routed, and rerouting the harnesses if necessary.

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

The Air Transport Association (ATA), on behalf of its member Northwest Airlines (NWA), requests that the compliance time be clarified. NWA asserts that some operators may have prior knowledge of airplanes having slide/rafts with affected part numbers before the release of this AD. NWA requests that the compliance time be clarified to ensure that operators having such prior knowledge have the full span of 1,700 flight hours specified by this AD to accomplish corrective actions on any affected airplane. Though NWA did not specifically make such a statement, it appears that NWA is concerned that such prior knowledge might require immediate grounding of some airplanes because of the “before further flight” clause of the NPRM.

We partially agree. For any AD, compliance times are mandated during which operators are responsible for accomplishing the requirements of an AD. For example, operators may perform an inspection or, as allowed by this AD, review the maintenance records to comply with the AD. “Compliance time” specifies a period of time during which operators may determine the best time to accomplish the inspection, and we have no knowledge of individual operator inspection or review schedules within the compliance time limits. However, we acknowledge the concern of NWA and have determined that, in this case, “before further flight” is not needed to ensure an acceptable level of safety, provided that corrective actions are accomplished within the specified compliance time. Therefore, we have revised paragraphs (f)(1)(ii) and (f)(2)(ii) of the AD to read “within 1,700 flight hours after the effective date of this AD.”

We have carefully reviewed the available data, including the comment received, and determined that air safety and the public interest require adopting the AD with the change described previously. We have determined that this change will neither increase the economic burden on any operator nor increase the scope of the AD.

This AD will affect about 27 airplanes of U.S. registry. The required actions will take about 3 work hours per airplane, at an average labor rate of $65 per work hour. Based on these figures, the estimated cost of the AD for U.S. operators is $5,265 or $195 per airplane.

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 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.

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

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

2. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends § 39.13 by adding the following new airworthiness directive (AD):