SAIB NM-05-50

SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

NM-05-50 April 21, 2005 http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/ This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin gives you, Transport Category Aircraft owners and operators, clarification of Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2004-22-01, issued in October 2004. The AD is applicable to various transport category airplanes on which cargo restraint strap assemblies P/N 1519-MCIDS have been installed per Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) ST01004NY. The purpose of the AD is to rectify the STC installation instructions.

Background

We issued STC ST01004NY to ACL (Airline Container Leasing), Inc. on October 29, 1999, for installation of Cargo Restraint Straps P/N 1519-MCIDS, under ACL Report No. 289A.

We approved that STC with installation instructions that were insufficient to assure safe installations for all types of cargo, and without limitation as to the type of cargo that could be restrained.

We issued AD 2004-22-01 to address the potential misuse of the straps. The AD is intended to address the installation instructions associated with the STC and has no bearing on the manufacturing or quality aspect of the ACL cargo strap.

Recommendation

We recommend that you take into account the explanation provided herein when complying with AD 2004-22-01. The AD doesn’t identify the straps themselves as the unsafe condition. The intent of the AD is to rectify the insufficient installation instructions of the STC and to allow the installation of the straps, under the airplane manufacturer’s weight and balance manual or the Airplane Flight Manual, and within the strap load rating. Airplane operators can continue to use those straps P/N 1519-MCIDS, approved by FAA STC ST01004NY:

• as supplemental restraints for securing cargo to TSO C90c/NAS3610 pallets;

• or as primary restraint for securing cargo to the airplane floor cargo restraint fittings,

under the airplane manufacturer’s weight and balance manual or the Airplane Flight Manual, and within the straps rated load capacity.

For Further Information, Contact

Jon Hjelm, phone: (516) 228-7323; email:

jon.hjelm@faa.gov; or:

Serge Napoleon, phone: (516) 228-7312;

email: serge.napoleon@faa.gov;

FAA NYACO, ANE-171, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY, 11590; fax:

(516) 794-5531.