AD 2011-01-09

This AD is effective February 9, 2011.

The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of a certain publication listed in the AD as of February 9, 2011.

For service information identified in this AD, contact B/E Aerospace, Inc., Commercial Aircraft Products Group, RGA Department, 10800 Pflumm Road, Lenexa, KS 66215; telephone (913) 338-7378; fax (913) 469-8419; Internet http://www.beaerospace.com. You may review copies of the referenced service information at the FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 425-227-1221.

David Fairback, Aerospace Engineer, Systems and Propulsion Branch, ACE-116W, FAA, Wichita Aircraft Certification Office (ACO), 1801 Airport Road, Room 100, Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, Kansas 67209; telephone (316) 946-4154; fax (316) 946-4107; e-mail David.Fairback@faa.gov.

We issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR part 39 to include an airworthiness directive (AD) that would apply to the specified products. That NPRM published in the Federal Register on August 18, 2010 (75 FR 50941). That NPRM proposed to require removing affected PBE units.

We gave the public the opportunity to participate in developing this AD. The following presents the comments received on the proposal and the FAA's response to each comment.

Boeing supported the contents of the NPRM.

Continental Airlines stated that Boeing has indicated in Fleet Team Digest 737NG-FTD-25-10003 that all defective B/E Aerospace PBEs have been successfully captured. We infer that Continental requested that we withdraw the NPRM.

We disagree with the request to withdraw the NPRM. We have not received assurance of such accomplishment. We contacted B/E Aerospace and it reported that their records show 422 of the 600 affected PBEs were contained, leaving 178 affected PBEs in the field. We have not changed the final rule in regard to this issue.

ABX Air requested that we clarify that no further action is required for PBEs with serial numbers outside the range. ABX Air suggested adding a new paragraph (g)(3) to the final rule to state “For any PBE not having a serial number from 003-50730M to 003-51329M inclusive: No further action is required.”

We agree that no further action is necessary for PBEs with serial numbers outside the range specified in paragraph (g)(1) of this AD. We added a new paragraph (g)(3) to this final rule. We have also clarified paragraph (g)(2) of this AD to state that once the replacement has been done, no further action is required by paragraph (g) of this AD. However, paragraph (h) of this AD prohibits installations of the PBEs within the serial number range.

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 up to 600 airplanes of U.S. registry.

We estimate the following costs 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),

(3) Will not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska, and

(4) 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.

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 airworthiness directive (AD):