Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH Helicopters

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 1, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25361-25363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09433]



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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 1, 2013 / Rules 
and Regulations

[[Page 25361]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2012-0773; Directorate Identifier 2009-SW-71-AD; 
Amendment 39-17352; AD 2013-03-18]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for 
Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (Eurocopter) Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 
helicopters. This AD requires inspecting the long tail rotor drive 
shaft assembly for blind rivets, and if any blind rivets are installed, 
replacing that shaft assembly. This AD was prompted by the discovery 
that some helicopters have blind rivets installed in the place of solid 
rivets in the long tail rotor drive shaft. The actions of this AD are 
intended to detect blind rivets installed in the long tail rotor drive 
shaft, which could lead to failure of the tail rotor drive shaft and 
subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

DATES: This AD is effective June 5, 2013.
    The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by 
reference of a certain document listed in this AD as of June 5, 2013.

ADDRESSES: For service information identified in this AD, contact 
American Eurocopter Corporation, 2701 N. Forum Drive, Grand Prairie, 
Texas 75052; telephone (972) 641-0000 or (800) 232-0323; fax (972) 641-
3775; or at http://www.eurocopter.com/techpub. You may review the 
referenced service information at the FAA, Office of the Regional 
Counsel, Southwest Region, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, Fort Worth, 
Texas 76137.

Examining the AD Docket

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Grigg, Manager, Safety Management 
Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, 
Texas 76137; telephone (817) 222-5110; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion

    On July 26, 2012, at 77 FR 43736, the Federal Register published 
our notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), which proposed to amend 14 
CFR part 39 to include an AD that would apply to Eurocopter Model MBB-
BK 117 C-2 helicopters. That NPRM proposed to require, within 100 hours 
time-in-service (TIS), inspecting the long tail rotor drive shaft 
assembly for blind rivets. If there are no blind rivets installed on 
the shaft assembly, no further action would be required by the AD. If 
there are one or more blind rivets installed on the shaft assembly, the 
NPRM proposed to require replacing the shaft assembly of the long tail 
rotor drive with an airworthy shaft assembly before further flight. The 
proposed requirements were intended to prevent failure of the tail 
rotor drive shaft and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
    The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical 
Agent for the Member States of the European Union, issued EASA AD No. 
2009-0119, dated June 4, 2009, to correct an unsafe condition for the 
Eurocopter Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopters. EASA advises that an error 
was discovered in the Eurocopter aircraft maintenance manual (AMM), 
which erroneously specifies replacing the solid rivets on the long tail 
rotor drive shaft with blind rivets. All delivered helicopters had the 
long tail rotor drive shafts installed during production fitted with 
the correct solid rivets. The long tail rotor drive shafts repaired in-
service in accordance with the AMM may have blind rivets installed. 
This condition, if not corrected, could lead to a significant reduction 
of the life of the long tail rotor drive shaft, failure of the long 
tail rotor drive shaft, and subsequent loss of control of the 
helicopter.

Comments

    We gave the public the opportunity to participate in developing 
this AD, but we did not receive any comments on the NPRM (77 FR 43736, 
July 26, 2012).

FAA's Determination

    This helicopter has been approved by the aviation authority of 
Germany and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant to 
our bilateral agreement with Germany, EASA, its technical 
representative, has notified us of the unsafe condition described in 
the EASA AD. We are issuing this AD because we evaluated all 
information provided by EASA and determined the unsafe condition exists 
and is likely to exist or develop on other helicopters of the same type 
design and that air safety and the public interest require adopting the 
AD requirements as proposed except we are incorporating a figure by 
reference instead of including it in our AD to meet current publication 
requirements. This change is consistent with the intent of the 
proposals in the NPRM (77 FR 43736, July 26, 2012) and will not 
increase the economic burden on any operator nor increase the scope of 
the AD.

Differences Between This AD and the EASA AD

    This AD uses the term ``TIS'' instead of ``flight hours.''

Related Service Information

    Eurocopter has issued Alert Service Bulletin No. MBB BK117 C-2-65A-
003, dated May 4, 2009 (ASB), which specifies inspecting long tail 
rotor drive shafts to determine what type of rivets are installed. If 
one or more blind rivets are installed, the ASB specifies replacing the 
long tail rotor drive shaft assembly with a serviceable long tail

[[Page 25362]]

rotor drive shaft assembly. EASA classified this ASB as mandatory and 
issued EASA AD No. 2009-0119, dated June 4, 2009, to ensure the 
continued airworthiness of these helicopters.

Costs of Compliance

    We estimate that this AD will affect 88 helicopters of U.S. 
registry. We estimate that operators may incur the following costs in 
order to comply with this AD:
    <bullet> It will take about 2 work hours to inspect and replace the 
long tail rotor drive shaft at an average labor rate of $85 per work 
hour.
    <bullet> Required parts to replace each long tail rotor drive shaft 
assembly cost about $4,600 each.
    Based upon these figures, the total cost per helicopter would be 
$4,770. The total cost for the entire U.S. fleet would be $419,760, 
assuming that the long tail rotor drive shaft assembly is required to 
be replaced on the entire fleet.

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 helicopters identified in this 
rulemaking action.

Regulatory Findings

    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 to the extent 
that it justifies making a regulatory distinction; 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.
    We prepared an economic evaluation of the estimated costs to comply 
with this AD and placed it in the AD docket.

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 adding the following new airworthiness 
directive (AD):

2013-03-18 Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (Eurocopter): Amendment 39-
17352; Docket No. FAA-2012-0773; Directorate Identifier 2009-SW-71-
AD.

(a) Applicability

    This AD applies to Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopters, with long 
tail rotor drive shaft assembly part number B651M1002101 or 
B651M1002102 installed, certificated in any category.

(b) Unsafe Condition

    This AD defines the unsafe condition as the installation of 
blind rivets instead of solid rivets in the long tail rotor drive 
shaft. This condition could result in failure of the long tail rotor 
drive shaft and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

(c) Effective Date

    This AD becomes effective June 5, 2013.

(d) Compliance

    You are responsible for performing each action required by this 
AD within the specified compliance time unless it has already been 
accomplished prior to that time.

(e) Required Actions

    Within 100 hours time-in-service, inspect the long tail rotor 
drive shaft assembly for blind rivets as indicated in sections A-A 
and B-B of Figure 1 of Eurocopter Alert Service Bulletin No. MBB 
BK117 C-2-65A-003, dated May 4, 2009 (ASB).
    (1) If there are no blind rivets installed on the shaft 
assembly, no further action is required by this AD.
    (2) If there is one or more blind rivets installed on the shaft 
assembly in the areas depicted in Figure 1 of the ASB, before 
further flight, replace the shaft assembly of the long tail rotor 
drive shaft with an airworthy shaft assembly that does not have 
blind rivets installed.
    (3) After the effective date of this AD, do not install a tail 
rotor drive shaft assembly that has blind rivets installed.

(f) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)

    (1) The Manager, Safety Management Group, FAA, may approve AMOCs 
for this AD. Send your proposal to: Jim Grigg, Manager, Safety 
Management Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 2601 Meacham Blvd., 
Fort Worth, Texas 76137; telephone (817) 222-5110; email 
[email protected].
    (2) For operations conducted under a 14 CFR part 119 operating 
certificate or under 14 CFR part 91, subpart K, we suggest that you 
notify your principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, 
the manager of the local flight standards district office or 
certificate holding district office, before operating any aircraft 
complying with this AD through an AMOC.

(g) Additional Information

    The subject of this AD is addressed in European Aviation Safety 
Agency AD No. 2009-0119, dated June 4, 2009.

(h) Subject

    Joint Aircraft System/Component (JASC) Code: 6510, Tail Rotor 
Drive Shaft.

(i) Material Incorporated by Reference

    (1) The Director of the Federal Register approved the 
incorporation by reference (IBR) of the service information listed 
in this paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.
    (2) You must use this service information as applicable to do 
the actions required by this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise.
    (i) Eurocopter Alert Service Bulletin No. MBB BK117 C-2-65A-003, 
dated May 4, 2009.
    (ii) Reserved.
    (3) For Eurocopter service information identified in this AD, 
contact American Eurocopter Corporation, 2701 N. Forum Drive, Grand 
Prairie, Texas 75052; telephone (972) 641-0000 or (800) 232-0323; 
fax (972) 641-3775; or at http://www.eurocopter.com/techpub.
    (4) You may view this service information at FAA, Office of the 
Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Room 663, 
Fort Worth, Texas 76137. For information on the availability of this 
material at the FAA, call (817) 222-5110.
    (5) You may view this service information that is incorporated 
by reference at the National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA). For information on the availability of this material at 
NARA, call (202) 741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html.


[[Page 25363]]


    Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 12, 2013.
Lance T. Gant,
Acting Directorate Manager, Rotorcraft Directorate, Aircraft 
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-09433 Filed 4-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

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