AD 2008-14-08

This AD is effective August 14, 2008.

The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of August 14, 2008.

For service information identified in this AD, contact Boeing Commercial Airplanes, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124-2207.

Ivan Li, Aerospace Engineer, Airframe Branch, ANM-120S, FAA, Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone (425) 917-6437; fax (425) 917-6590.

We issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR part 39 to include an airworthiness directive (AD) that would apply to all Boeing Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747-200F, 747-300, 747-400, 747-400D, 747-400F, 747SR, and 747SP series airplanes. That NPRM was published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2008 (73 FR 8248). That NPRM proposed to require repetitive inspections for broken or missing fasteners in the single-row hinge fasteners of the forward and aft cargo doors, and related investigative/corrective actions.

We gave the public the opportunity to participate in developing this AD. We considered the comments received.

Japan Airlines (JAL) states that it informed Boeing of an error in Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 747-52A2287, dated October 25, 2007, which we referred to as the appropriate source of service information for doing the actions proposed in the NPRM. JAL found an error in torque values and fastener quantities in Figures 9, 25, and 26 of that service bulletin. Therefore, JAL requests that we delay issuance of the AD until Boeing revises its service information with the corrected values and quantities. Boeing states that it has revised the service bulletin and recommends that the AD refer to Revision 1.

We agree with the commenter. Boeing has issued Service Bulletin 747-52A2287, Revision 1, dated April 17, 2008, which contains the corrected torque values and fastener quantities. Revision 1 of the service bulletin also corrects errors in certain part numbers and station locations. We have revised paragraph (f) of the AD to refer to Revision 1 and to remove the actions to take if there is one or more fasteners missing from a hinge segment. That information is included in Revision 1 of the service bulletin. We have also added a new paragraph (g) to the AD to give credit to operators who accomplished the required actions in accordance with the original issue of the service bulletin. We have re-identified subsequent paragraphs accordingly.

We reviewed the relevant data, considered the comments received, and determined that air safety and the public interest require adopting the AD with the changes described previously. We also determined that these changes will not increase the economic burden on any operator or increase the scope of the AD.

We estimate that this AD affects 165 airplanes of U.S. registry. The “Estimated Costs” table provides the estimated costs for U.S. operators to comply with this AD.

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.

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.

You can find our regulatory evaluation and the estimated costs of compliance in the AD Docket.

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 FAA amends § 39.13 by adding the following new AD: