Summary
This document proposes the adoption of a new airworthiness directive (AD) that is applicable to certain McDonnell Douglas Model MD-11 series airplanes. This proposal would require a general visual inspection to verify that the circuit breaker panel fully opens, follow-on inspections, and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposal is prompted by an incident of an operator not being able to fully open the observer's upper main circuit breaker panel due to a certain cable being too short. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to ensure that the upper main circuit breaker panel opens fully. If the panel does not open fully, maintenance activities may be hindered and cause damage to the circuit breaker panel and wiring, which could result in electrical arcing and consequent smoke and fire in the flight compartment.