Summary
This document proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) that would apply to certain Fairchild Aircraft SA226 and SA227 series airplanes. The proposed action would require drilling inspection access holes in the elevator torque tube arm, inspecting the elevator torque tube for corrosion, replacing any corroded elevator torque tube, and applying a corrosion preventive compound. Several reports of corrosion found in the elevator torque tube area on the affected airplanes prompted the proposed action. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent failure of the flight control system caused by a corroded elevator torque tube, which, if not detected and corrected, could result in loss of control of the airplane.