# AD 89-12-07: Wing Cavity

- Type: Airworthiness directive
- Status: Historical
- Products: Boeing 747 Series (all)
- Effective: July 10, 1989
- Superseded by: [AD 2003-11-01](https://openairdocs.org/ad/2003-11-01)
- Product type: Aircraft, Large airplane
- Amendment: 39-6232
- FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/20E3D1A0FB6D5CE68625695A0071035C.0001
- DRS record last changed: August 7, 2025
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ad/89-12-07

## The airworthiness directive

89-12-07 BOEING: Amendment 39-6232. Applicability: All Model 747 series airplanes, certificated in any category.

Compliance: Required as indicated, unless previously accomplished.

To prevent reduced lateral control caused by icing of the aileron control cables, accomplish the following:

A. Within the next 15 months after the effective date of this AD, unless already accomplished within the last 3 months, and thereafter at intervals not to exceed 18 months, perform the following:

1. Gain access to the cavity aft of the wing center section. 2. Remove all debris and foreign material, clean the cavity, and verify all drains are open and clean.

B. An alternate means of compliance or adjustment of the compliance time, which provides an acceptable level of safety, may be used when approved by the Manager, Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, FAA, Northwest Mountain Region.

NOTE: The request should be forwarded through an FAA Principal MaintenanceInspector (PMI), who may add any comments and then send it to the Manager, Seattle Aircraft Certification Office.

C. Special flight permits may be issued in accordance with FAR 21.197 and 21.199 to operate airplanes to a base in order to comply with the requirements of this AD.

All persons affected by this directive who have not already received the appropriate service documents from the manufacturer may obtain copies upon request to Boeing Commercial Airplanes, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124. These documents may be examined at FAA, Northwest Mountain Region, 17900 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Washington, or Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, FAA, Northwest Mountain Region, 9010 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, Washington.

This amendment (39-6232, AD 89-12-07) becomes effective on July 10, 1989.

## Registered aircraft it may apply to (OpenAirDocs)

No registered aircraft matched the models it names.

## Related documents

- [AD 2003-11-01](https://openairdocs.org/ad/2003-11-01): Drainage system cavity · Boeing 747-100 Series, 747-100B Series, 747-100B SUD Series and 9 more. Effective Jul 3, 2003. Supersedes this AD

Its text cites no advisory circulars or STCs.

## NTSB investigations that cite this AD (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI03IA097](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI03IA097), Apr 1, 2003: Boeing 747-422 (N175UA), Chicago, IL, incident, no damage. Probable cause: Failure of company maintenance personnel to fully comply with published maintenance/inspection procedures, as well as the resulting inoperative drain heaters and restricted movement of the aileron…

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