Airworthiness Directives; General Electric Company (GE) Turbofan Engines

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10950-10952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4284]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2006-25738; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-27-AD; 
Amendment 39-16961; AD 2012-04-05]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; General Electric Company (GE) Turbofan 
Engines

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) 
for all GE CF6-80C2B series turbofan engines. That AD currently 
requires installing software version 8.2.Q1 to the engine electronic 
control unit (ECU), which increases the engine's margin to flameout. 
This new AD requires the removal of the affected ECUs from service. 
This AD was prompted by two reports of engine flameout events during 
flight in inclement weather conditions, eight reports of engine in-
flight shutdown (IFSD) events caused by dual-channel central processing 
unit (CPU) faults in the ECU, and four reports of engine flameout 
ground events. We are issuing this AD to prevent engine flameout or un-
commanded engine IFSD of one or more engines, leading to an emergency 
or forced landing of the airplane.

DATES: This AD is effective March 30, 2012.

ADDRESSES:

Examining the AD Docket

    You may examine the AD docket on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov; or in person at the Docket Management Facility 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. The AD docket contains this AD, the regulatory evaluation, 
any comments received, and other information. The address for the 
Docket Office (phone: 800-647-5527) is Document Management Facility, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tomasz Rakowski, Aerospace Engineer, 
Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine & Propeller Directorate, 12 
New England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803; phone: 781-238-7735; 
fax: 781-238-7199; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Discussion

    We issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR 
part 39 to supersede AD 2007-12-07, Amendment 39-15085 (72 FR 31174, 
June 6, 2007). That AD applies to the specified products. The NPRM was 
published in the Federal Register on November 14, 2011 (76 FR 70382). 
That NPRM proposed to remove the affected ECUs from service.

Comments

    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.

Request To Change Unsafe Condition

    Commenter GE stated that in all of the events of flameout the 
engines relit and in all dual-channel CPU fault in-flight shutdowns the 
engines were capable of restarting. GE stated that these events should 
not be considered unsafe conditions.
    We do not agree. Although a flameout with a consecutive relight or 
an in-flight shutdown with a consecutive restart during cruise flight 
is not in itself an unsafe condition, these types of loss of thrust can 
be unsafe conditions during takeoff or during approach and landing. We 
did not change the AD.

Request To Clarify Engine Flight Cycle and ECU Cycle Count

    Commenter All Nippon Airways (ANA) requested that we clarify the 
relationship between the engine flight cycles and ECU cycles of 
operation in the engine, and whether previous ECU history affects the 
flight cycle count.
    We do not agree. The flight cycle intervals in paragraph (g) of the 
AD refer to the engine start-stop cycles with the affected ECU part 
numbers (P/Ns) installed, rather than ECU operational cycles. Engine 
flight cycles accrued before the effective date of the AD are not 
accounted for in the cycle count. We did not change the AD.

Request To Remove Certain Affected ECU P/Ns From the AD

    Commenters Atlas Air, ANA, KLM, and China Airlines requested that 
we remove from the list of affected ECU P/Ns in Table 2 of the AD, ECUs 
with software version 8.2.Q1 and 8.2.R, a new front panel assembly 
(FPA) and an old pressure subsystem (PSS), or an old FPA and a new PSS 
generation circuit boards.
    We do not agree. Dual-channel CPU faults have not been ruled out 
for the new FPA or the new PSS, therefore any ECU with either a new FPA 
or a new PSS must be addressed regardless of the version of software 
installed. We did not change the AD.

Request To Add ECU P/Ns to the AD

    Commenter Atlas Air stated that ECUs P/Ns 1471M63P41, 1519M89P31, 
and 1820M33P14 are not listed in the proposed AD, but should be listed.
    We do not agree. Those ECUs have the old generation of FPA and PSS 
circuit

[[Page 10951]]

boards and, therefore, are not susceptible to dual-channel CPU faults. 
The referenced ECUs also have the latest available version of software 
installed. We did not change the AD.

Request To Mandate Software Version 8.2.R or Later

    Commenter Atlas Air requested to add a requirement to install 
software version 8.2.R or later in all affected engines at specified 
times, without regard to FPA and PSS circuit board hardware 
configuration.
    We do not agree. Certain ECU P/Ns that have software version 8.2.R 
are susceptible to CPU channel faults. We did not change the AD.

Request To Modify ECUs

    Commenter Atlas Air requested to modify ECU P/Ns 1471M63P42, 
1519M89P32, and 1820M33P15 to ECU P/Ns 1471M63P41, 1519M89P31, and 
1820M33P14, respectively.
    We do not agree. No approved procedure exists to downgrade the 
ECUs. Engine owners and operators may propose such a procedure for 
approval, and request an alternative method of compliance to the AD, as 
specified in paragraph (i) of the AD. We did not change the AD.

Request To Add ECU Rework Procedures

    Commenter ANA requested that we add rework procedures to the AD to 
modify affected ECUs into serviceable configurations of ECUs.
    We do not agree. The AD is written to only remove affected ECU P/Ns 
from service. Refer to the manufacturer's service information for 
upgrading affected ECUs. We did not change the AD.

Conclusion

    We reviewed the relevant data, considered the comments received, 
and determined that air safety and the public interest require adopting 
the AD as proposed.

Costs of Compliance

    We estimate that this AD will affect 697 GE CF6-80C2B series 
turbofan engines installed on airplanes of U.S. registry. We also 
estimate that it will take about 4 work-hours per engine to perform a 
removal and replacement of the ECU, and that the average labor rate is 
$85 per work-hour. A replacement ECU costs about $4,600. Based on these 
figures, we estimate the total cost of the AD to U.S. operators to be 
$3,443,180.

Authority for This Rulemaking

    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.

Regulatory Findings

    We have determined that 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.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39

    Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Incorporation by 
reference, Safety.

Adoption of the Amendment

    Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the 
Administrator, the FAA amends 14 CFR part 39 as follows:

PART 39--AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES

0
1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701.


Sec.  39.13  [Amended]

0
2. The FAA amends Sec.  39.13 by removing airworthiness directive (AD) 
2007-12-07, Amendment 39-15085 (72 FR 31174, June 6, 2007), and adding 
the following new AD:

2012-04-05 General Electric Company (GE): Amendment 39-16961; Docket 
No. FAA-2006-25738; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-27-AD.

(a) Effective Date

    This airworthiness directive (AD) is effective March 30, 2012.

(b) Affected ADs

    This AD supersedes AD 2007-12-07, Amendment 39-15085 (72 FR 
31174, June 6, 2007).

(c) Applicability

    This AD applies to GE CF6-80C2B1F, CF6-80C2B1F1, CF6-80C2B1F2, 
CF6-80C2B2F, CF6-80C2B3F, CF6-80C2B4F, CF6-80C2B5F, CF6-80C2B6F, 
CF6-80C2B6FA, CF6-80C2B7F, and CF6-80C2B8F turbofan engines, 
including engines marked on the engine data plate as CF6-80C2B7F1.

(d) Unsafe Condition

    This AD results from:
    (1) Two reports of engine flameout events during flight in 
inclement weather conditions; and
    (2) Eight reports of engine in-flight shutdown (IFSD) events 
caused by dual-channel central processing unit (CPU) faults in the 
electronic control unit (ECU); and
    (3) Four reports of engine flameout ground events.
    (e) We are issuing this AD to prevent engine flameout or un-
commanded engine IFSD of one or more engines, leading to an 
emergency or forced landing of the airplane.

(f) Compliance

    Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified, 
unless already done.

(g) ECU Removal

    (1) Remove from service ECUs with part numbers (P/Ns) listed in 
Table 1 of this AD within 6 months or 450 engine flight cycles after 
the effective date of this AD, whichever occurs first.

                                           Table 1--Affected ECU P/Ns
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        1471M63P01             1471M63P02             1471M63P03             1471M63P04             1471M63P05
        1471M63P06             1471M63P07             1471M63P08             1471M63P09             1471M63P10
        1471M63P11             1471M63P12             1471M63P13             1471M63P14             1471M63P15
        1471M63P16             1471M63P17             1471M63P18             1471M63P23             1471M63P24

[[Page 10952]]

 
        1471M63P25             1471M63P26             1471M63P27             1471M63P28             1471M63P29
        1471M63P30             1471M63P31             1471M63P32             1471M63P33             1471M63P34
        1471M63P35             1471M63P36             1519M89P01             1519M89P02             1519M89P03
        1519M89P04             1519M89P05             1519M89P06             1519M89P07             1519M89P08
        1519M89P09             1519M89P10             1519M89P13             1519M89P14             1519M89P15
        1519M89P16             1519M89P17             1519M89P18             1519M89P19             1519M89P20
        1519M89P21             1519M89P22             1519M89P23             1519M89P24             1519M89P25
        1519M89P26             1820M33P01             1820M33P02             1820M33P03             1820M33P04
        1820M33P05             1820M33P06             1820M33P07             1820M33P08             1820M33P09
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     (2) Remove from service ECUs with P/Ns 2121M37P01, 2121M37P02, 
2121M38P01, 2121M38P02, 2121M41P01 and 2121M41P02 within 14 months 
or 1,050 engine flight cycles after the effective date of this AD, 
whichever occurs first.
    (3) Remove from service ECUs with P/Ns listed in Table 2 of this 
AD within 60 months or 4,500 engine flight cycles after the 
effective date of this AD, whichever occurs first.

                                           Table 2--Affected ECU P/Ns
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        1471M63P37             1471M63P38             1471M63P39             1471M63P40             1471M63P42
        1519M89P27             1519M89P28             1519M89P29             1519M89P30             1519M89P32
        1820M33P10             1820M33P11             1820M33P12             1820M33P13             1820M33P15
        2121M25P01             2121M25P02             2121M26P01             2121M26P02             2121M29P01
        2121M29P02             2121M37P03             2121M38P03             2121M41P03
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(h) Installation Prohibition

    (1) After the effective date of this AD, do not install any ECU 
P/N listed in Table 1 of this AD onto any airplane.
    (2) After the effective date of this AD, do not operate any 
airplane with more than one ECU P/N 2121M37P02, 2121M38P02, or 
2121M41P02 installed.

(i) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)

    The Manager, Engine Certification Office, FAA, may approve AMOCs 
for this AD. Use the procedures in 14 CFR 39.19 to make your 
request.

(j) Related Information

    For more information about this AD, contact Tomasz Rakowski, 
Aerospace Engineer, Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine & 
Propeller Directorate, 12 New England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 
01803; phone: 781-238-7735; fax: 781-238-7199; email: 
[email protected].

(k) Material Incorporated by Reference

    None.

    Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts, on February 17, 2012.
Peter A. White,
Manager, Engine & Propeller Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-4284 Filed 2-23-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

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