Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51237-51240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20474]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2014-0588; Directorate Identifier 2014-NM-150-AD; 
Amendment 39-17963; AD 2014-17-10]
RIN 2120-AA64


Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all 
Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes. This AD 
requires repetitive on-ground power cycles (resets) of the Transponder, 
Terrain and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (T3CAS). This AD was 
prompted by reports of spurious terrain ahead warning system (TAWS) 
alerts during approach and takeoff. We are issuing this AD to prevent 
spurious TAWS alerts, which could increase flightcrew workload during 
critical landing or takeoff phases, and result in reduced control of 
the airplane.

DATES: This AD becomes effective September 12, 2014.
    The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by 
reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of September 
12, 2014.
    We must receive comments on this AD by October 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, using the procedures found in 14 CFR 
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Fax: 202-493-2251.
    <bullet> Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    For service information identified in this AD, contact Airbus, 
Airworthiness Office--EIAS, 1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 
Blagnac Cedex, France; telephone +33 5 61 93 36 96; fax +33 5 61 93 44 
51; email [email protected]; Internet http://www.airbus.com. You may view this referenced service information at the 
FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA. 
For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 
425-227-1221.

Examining the AD Docket

    You may examine the AD docket on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-2014-
0588; 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, the regulatory evaluation, any comments received, and 
other information. The street address for the Docket Operations office 
(telephone 800-647-5527) is in the ADDRESSES section. Comments will be 
available in the AD docket shortly after receipt.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sanjay Ralhan, Aerospace Engineer, 
International Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA, 
1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057-3356; telephone 425-227-1405; 
fax 425-227-1149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Discussion

    The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical 
Agent for the Member States of the European

[[Page 51238]]

Community, has issued EASA Airworthiness Directive 2014-0174, dated 
July 23, 2014 (referred to after this as the Mandatory Continuing 
Airworthiness Information, or ``the MCAI''), to correct an unsafe 
condition on all Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series 
airplanes. The MCAI states:

    Following two cases of spurious Terrain Ahead Warning System 
(TAWS) alert during approach and take off in Geneva, the concerned 
Transponder, Terrain and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (T3CAS) 
was sent to ACSS, the manufacturer of the affected equipment, for 
investigation. The results of a laboratory investigation indicated 
that an internal frozen position anomaly occurs when T3CAS is 
constantly powered for more than 149 hours. The origin for this 
defect was identified as a counter limitation, which is identified 
as a purely T3CAS software misbehavior and is not self-detected. 
Only T3CAS units having Part Number (P/N) 9005000-10000 (software 
Standard 1.0), P/N 9005000-10101 (Standard 1.1), and P/N 9005000-
10202 (Standard 1.2) are affected by this software error.
    This condition, if not corrected, could lead to spurious TAWS 
alerts which could increase flight crew workload during critical 
landing or take off phases, possibly resulting in reduced control of 
the aeroplane.
    Prompted by these reports, Airbus issued Alert Operators 
Transmission (AOT) A34N004-13 to provide instructions to reset the 
T3CAS.
    For the reasons described above, this [EASA] AD requires 
repetitive on ground power cycles (resets) of the T3CAS unit.

    You may examine the MCAI on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-2014-
0588.

Relevant Service Information

    Airbus has issued Alert Operators Transmission A34N004-13, Revision 
01, dated March 19, 2014. The actions described in this service 
information are intended to correct the unsafe condition identified in 
the MCAI.

FAA's Determination and Requirements of This AD

    This product has been approved by the aviation authority of another 
country, and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant 
to our bilateral agreement with the State of Design Authority, we have 
been notified of the unsafe condition described in the MCAI and service 
information referenced above. We are issuing this AD because we 
evaluated all pertinent information and determined the unsafe condition 
exists and is likely to exist or develop on other products of these 
same type designs.

Differences Between This AD and the MCAI or Service Information

    The MCAI requires revising the airplane maintenance program to 
incorporate the T3CAS on-ground power cycle instructions. EASA did not 
provide adequate details for this maintenance program revision; this 
requirement is therefore not included in this FAA AD.
    The MCAI specifies a provision for installing a version (part 
number) of a T3CAS that is approved after the effective date of the 
EASA AD as a terminating action for the repetitive on-ground power 
cycles. Although this FAA AD does not include that provision, any 
person may request approval of an alternative method of compliance 
(AMOC) under the provisions of paragraph (j)(1) of this AD.

``Contacting the Manufacturer'' Paragraph in This AD

    Since late 2006, we have included a standard paragraph titled 
``Airworthy Product'' in all MCAI ADs in which the FAA develops an AD 
based on a foreign authority's AD.
    The MCAI or referenced service information in an FAA AD often 
directs the owner/operator to contact the manufacturer for corrective 
actions, such as a repair. Briefly, the Airworthy Product paragraph 
allowed owners/operators to use corrective actions provided by the 
manufacturer if those actions were FAA-approved. In addition, the 
paragraph stated that any actions approved by the State of Design 
Authority (or its delegated agent) are considered to be FAA-approved.
    In an NPRM having Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-101-AD (78 FR 
78285, December 26, 2013), we proposed to prevent the use of repairs 
that were not specifically developed to correct the unsafe condition, 
by requiring that the repair approval provided by the State of Design 
Authority or its delegated agent specifically refer to the FAA AD. This 
change was intended to clarify the method of compliance and to provide 
operators with better visibility of repairs that are specifically 
developed and approved to correct the unsafe condition. In addition, we 
proposed to change the phrase ``its delegated agent'' to include a 
design approval holder (DAH) with State of Design Authority design 
organization approval (DOA), as applicable, to refer to a DAH 
authorized to approve required repairs for the proposed AD.
    One commenter to the NPRM having Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-
101-AD (78 FR 78285, December 26, 2013) stated the following: ``The 
proposed wording, being specific to repairs, eliminates the 
interpretation that Airbus messages are acceptable for approving minor 
deviations (corrective actions) needed during accomplishment of an AD 
mandated Airbus service bulletin.''
    This comment has made the FAA aware that some operators have 
misunderstood or misinterpreted the Airworthy Product paragraph to 
allow the owner/operator to use messages provided by the manufacturer 
as approval of deviations during the accomplishment of an AD-mandated 
action. The Airworthy Product paragraph does not approve messages or 
other information provided by the manufacturer for deviations to the 
requirements of the AD-mandated actions. The Airworthy Product 
paragraph only addresses the requirement to contact the manufacturer 
for corrective actions for the identified unsafe condition and does not 
cover deviations from other AD requirements. However, deviations to AD-
required actions are addressed in 14 CFR 39.17, and anyone may request 
the approval for an alternative method of compliance to the AD-required 
actions using the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19.
    To address this misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the 
Airworthy Product paragraph, we have changed the paragraph and retitled 
it ``Contacting the Manufacturer.'' This paragraph now clarifies that 
for any requirement in this AD to obtain corrective actions from a 
manufacturer, the actions must be accomplished using a method approved 
by the FAA, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), or Airbus's 
EASA DOA.
    The Contacting the Manufacturer paragraph also clarifies that, if 
approved by the DOA, the approval must include the DOA-authorized 
signature. The DOA signature indicates that the data and information 
contained in the document are EASA-approved, which is also FAA-
approved. Messages and other information provided by the manufacturer 
that do not contain the DOA-authorized signature approval are not EASA-
approved, unless EASA directly approves the manufacturer's message or 
other information.
    This clarification does not remove flexibility previously afforded 
by the Airworthy Product paragraph. Consistent with long-standing FAA 
policy, such flexibility was never intended for required actions. This 
is also consistent with the recommendation of the Airworthiness 
Directive Implementation Aviation Rulemaking Committee to increase 
flexibility in complying with ADs by

[[Page 51239]]

identifying those actions in manufacturers' service instructions that 
are ``Required for Compliance'' with ADs. We continue to work with 
manufacturers to implement this recommendation. But once we determine 
that an action is required, any deviation from the requirement must be 
approved as an alternative method of compliance.

FAA's Determination of the Effective Date

    An unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption of 
this AD. The FAA has found that the risk to the flying public justifies 
waiving notice and comment prior to adoption of this rule because 
spurious TAWS alerts could increase flightcrew workload during critical 
landing or take off phases, and result in reduced control of the 
airplane. Therefore, we determined that notice and opportunity for 
public comment before issuing this AD are impracticable and that good 
cause exists for making this amendment effective in fewer than 30 days.

Comments Invited

    This AD is a final rule that involves requirements affecting flight 
safety, and we did not precede it by notice and opportunity for public 
comment. We invite you to send any written relevant data, views, or 
arguments about this AD. Send your comments to an address listed under 
the ADDRESSES section. Include ``Docket No. FAA-2014-0588; Directorate 
Identifier 2014-NM-150-AD'' at the beginning of your comments. We 
specifically invite comments on the overall regulatory, economic, 
environmental, and energy aspects of this AD. We will consider all 
comments received by the closing date and may amend this AD based on 
those comments.
    We will post all comments we receive, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you provide. We 
will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal contact we 
receive about this AD.

Costs of Compliance

    We estimate that this AD affects 855 airplanes of U.S. registry. We 
also estimate that it will take about 1 work-hour per product to comply 
with the basic requirements of this AD. The average labor rate is $85 
per work-hour. Required parts will cost about $0 per product. Based on 
these figures, we estimate the cost of this AD on U.S. operators to be 
$72,675, or $85 per product.

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 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 the 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 adding the following new airworthiness 
directive (AD):

2014-17-10 Airbus: Amendment 39-17963. Docket No. FAA-2014-0588; 
Directorate Identifier 2014-NM-150-AD.

(a) Effective Date

    This AD becomes effective September 12, 2014.

(b) Affected ADs

    None.

(c) Applicability

    This AD applies to all Airbus airplanes, certificated in any 
category, identified in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(4) of this AD.
    (1) Model A318-111, -112, -121, and -122 airplanes.
    (2) Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, and -133 
airplanes.
    (3) Model A320-211, -212, -214, -231, -232, and -233 airplanes.
    (4) Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, and -232 
airplanes.

(d) Subject

    Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 34, Navigation.

(e) Reason

    This AD was prompted by reports of spurious terrain ahead 
warning system (TAWS) alerts during approach and takeoff. We are 
issuing this AD to prevent spurious TAWS alerts, which could 
increase flightcrew workload during critical landing or take off 
phases, and result in reduced control of the airplane.

(f) Compliance

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

(g) T3CAS On-Ground Power Cycle

    For airplanes equipped with a Transponder, Terrain and Traffic 
Collision Avoidance System (T3CAS) unit having a part number and 
associated software standard identified in paragraph (g)(1), (g)(2), 
or (g)(3) of this AD: Within 30 days after the effective date of 
this AD, do an on-ground power cycle (reset) of the T3CAS, in 
accordance with the instructions of Airbus Alert Operators 
Transmission A34N004-13, Revision 01, dated March 19, 2014. Repeat 
the on-ground power cycle thereafter at intervals not to exceed 120 
hours of continuous power of the T3CAS.
    (1) Part number 9005000-10000 and software standard 1.0.
    (2) Part number 9005000-10101 and software standard 1.1.
    (3) Part number 9005000-10202 and software standard 1.2.

(h) Airplanes Excluded From Power-Cycle Requirements

    Airplanes on which Airbus modification 39146, 152980, or 154341 
has not been incorporated in production are not affected by the 
requirements of paragraph (g) of this AD, provided no T3CAS unit 
having a part

[[Page 51240]]

number and associated software standard identified in paragraph 
(g)(1), (g)(2), or (g)(3) of this AD is installed on that airplane.

(i) Parts Installation Limitation

    As of the effective date of this AD, installation on an airplane 
of a T3CAS unit having a part number and software standard as 
identified in paragraph (g)(1), (g)(2), or (g)(3) of this AD is 
acceptable, provided the conditions specified in both paragraphs 
(i)(1) and (i)(2) of this AD are met.
    (1) After installation of the T3CAS unit, the unit is 
repetitively power cycled as required by paragraph (g) of this AD.
    (2) The T3CAS unit has accumulated less than 120 hours of 
continuous power.

(j) Other FAA AD Provisions

    The following provisions also apply to this AD:
    (1) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs): The Manager, 
International Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA, 
has the authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if requested using 
the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. In accordance with 14 CFR 
39.19, send your request to your principal inspector or local Flight 
Standards District Office, as appropriate. If sending information 
directly to the International Branch, send it to ATTN: Sanjay 
Ralhan, Aerospace Engineer, International Branch, ANM-116, Transport 
Airplane Directorate, FAA, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057-
3356; telephone 425-227-1405; fax 425-227-1149. Information may be 
emailed to: [email protected]. Before using any 
approved AMOC, notify your appropriate principal inspector, or 
lacking a principal inspector, the manager of the local flight 
standards district office/certificate holding district office. The 
AMOC approval letter must specifically reference this AD.
    (2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any requirement in this AD 
to obtain corrective actions from a manufacturer, the action must be 
accomplished using a method approved by the Manager, International 
Branch, ANM-116, Transport Airplane Directorate, FAA; or the 
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA); or Airbus's EASA Design 
Organization Approval (DOA). If approved by the DOA, the approval 
must include the DOA-authorized signature.

(k) Related Information

    Refer to Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information (MCAI) 
EASA Airworthiness Directive 2014-0174, dated July 23, 2014, for 
related information. You may examine the MCAI on the Internet at 
http://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating Docket No. 
FAA-2014-0588.

(l) 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 this AD specifies otherwise.
    (i) Airbus Alert Operators Transmission A34N004-13, Revision 01, 
dated March 19, 2014.
    (ii) Reserved.
    (3) For service information identified in this AD, contact 
Airbus, Airworthiness Office--EIAS, 1 Rond Point Maurice Bellonte, 
31707 Blagnac Cedex, France; telephone +33 5 61 93 36 96; fax +33 5 
61 93 44 51; email [email protected]; Internet http://www.airbus.com.
    (4) You may view this service information at the FAA, Transport 
Airplane Directorate, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA. For 
information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 
425-227-1221.
    (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.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on August 19, 2014.
Kevin Hull,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-20474 Filed 8-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

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