Proposed Rule2022-25722
Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 28, 2022
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-8, 737-9, and 737-8200 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a determination that a new airworthiness limitation is necessary to require periodic replacement of the oxygen sensor of the nitrogen generation system (NGS). This proposed AD would require revising the existing maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate the new airworthiness limitation. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 227 (Monday, November 28, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 227 (Monday, November 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72902-72904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25722]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA-2022-1063; Project Identifier AD-2021-01339-T]
RIN 2120-AA64
Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD)
for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-8, 737-9, and 737-8200
airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a determination that a new
airworthiness limitation is necessary to require periodic replacement
of the oxygen sensor of the nitrogen generation system (NGS). This
proposed AD would require revising the existing maintenance or
inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate the new airworthiness
limitation. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe
condition on these products.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments on this proposed AD by January 12,
2023.
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 <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>. 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: Deliver to Mail address above between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
For service information identified in this NPRM, contact Boeing
Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Contractual & Data Services (C&DS),
2600 Westminster Blvd., <a href="http://myboeingfleet.com">myboeingfleet.com</a>. You may view this service
information at the FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, Operational
Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA. For information on
the availability of this material at the FAA, call 206-231-3195.
Examining the AD Docket
You may examine the AD docket at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> by searching for
and locating Docket No. FAA-2022-1063; or in person at Docket
Operations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. The AD docket contains this NPRM, any comments
received, and other information. The street address for Docket
Operations is listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Baker, Aerospace Engineer,
Propulsion Section, FAA, Seattle ACO Branch, 2200 South 216th St., Des
Moines, WA 98198; phone and fax: 206-231-3552; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#15767d677c66617a657d70673b673b77747e7067557374743b727a63"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="711219031802051e011914035f035f13101a1403311710105f161e07">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites you to send any written relevant data, views, or
arguments about this proposal. Send your comments to an address listed
under ADDRESSES. Include ``Docket No. FAA-2022-1063; Project Identifier
AD-2021-01339-T'' at the beginning of your comments. The most helpful
comments reference a specific portion of the proposal, explain the
reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. The FAA
will consider all comments received by the closing date and may amend
this proposal because of those comments.
Except for Confidential Business Information (CBI) as described in
the following paragraph, and other information as described in 14 CFR
11.35, the FAA will post all comments received, without change, to
<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information you provide. The
agency will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal
contact received about this NPRM.
Confidential Business Information
CBI is commercial or financial information that is both customarily
and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public
disclosure. If your comments responsive to this NPRM contain commercial
or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that
you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to
this NPRM, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted
comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing
CBI as ``PROPIN.'' The FAA will treat such marked submissions as
confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public
docket of this NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Chris
Baker, Aerospace Engineer, Propulsion Section, FAA, Seattle ACO Branch,
2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198; phone and fax: 206-231-
3552; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bad9d2c8d3c9ced5cad2dfc894c894d8dbd1dfc8fadcdbdb94ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90f3f8e2f9e3e4ffe0f8f5e2bee2bef2f1fbf5e2d0f6f1f1bef7ffe6">[email protected]</span></a>. Any commentary that the FAA
receives that is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in
the public docket for this rulemaking.
Background
This proposed AD was prompted by the discovery of a safety issue
related to the reliability of the oxygen sensor of the airplane's NGS.
The NGS is an onboard inert gas system that reduces the
flammability of the airplane's center fuel tank. The NGS uses an air
separation module (ASM) to separate oxygen and nitrogen from the air.
The ASM uses input from an oxygen sensor. After the ASM separates the
oxygen-enriched air from the nitrogen-enriched air, the NGS returns
nitrogen-enriched air to the fuel tank, and vents the oxygen-enriched
air overboard. These actions reduce the flammability of the fuel tank.
Boeing discovered that the oxygen sensor's reliability can degrade
over time. Degraded performance by the sensor could result in the ASM
failing to produce nitrogen-enriched air, and the fuel tank becoming
more flammable due to excessive oxygen-enriched air. Such additional
flammability, if coupled with an ignition source in the fuel tank,
could lead to a fuel tank explosion. This proposed AD would require
adding an airworthiness limitation to require periodic replacement of
the oxygen sensor.
This proposed AD would apply to airplanes with an original
airworthiness certificate or original export certificate of
airworthiness issued on or before April 1, 2021, as well as airplanes
with line numbers 7668, 7678, and 7915. Boeing did not start delivering
airplanes with Boeing 737-7/8/8200/9/10 Special
[[Page 72903]]
Compliance Items/Airworthiness Limitations, D626A011-9-04, dated
January 2019, which addresses this issue, until after April 1, 2021,
and delivered airplanes with line numbers 7668, 7678, and 7915 with an
earlier revision of that document. The applicability in this proposed
AD is therefore limited to airplanes that were delivered with a version
of Boeing 737-7/8/8200/9/10 Special Compliance Items/Airworthiness
Limitations, D626A011-9-04 dated prior to January 2019.
FAA's Determination
The FAA is issuing this NPRM after determining that the unsafe
condition described previously is likely to exist or develop on other
products of the same type design.
Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51
The FAA reviewed Boeing 737-7/8/8200/9/10 Special Compliance Items/
Airworthiness Limitations, D626A011-9-04, dated January 2019. This
service information describes, among other airworthiness limitations
(AWLs), airworthiness limitation instruction (ALI) AWL No. 47-AWL-09,
``Nitrogen Generation System--Oxygen Sensor,'' for replacing oxygen
sensors. This service information is reasonably available because the
interested parties have access to it through their normal course of
business or by the means identified in the ADDRESSES section.
Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM
This proposed AD would require revising the existing maintenance or
inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate a new airworthiness
limitation.
This proposed AD would require revisions to certain operator
maintenance documents to include new actions (replacements). Compliance
with these actions is required by 14 CFR 91.403(c). For airplanes that
have been previously modified, altered, or repaired in the areas
addressed by this proposed AD, the operator may not be able to
accomplish the actions described in the revisions. In this situation,
to comply with 14 CFR 91.403(c), the operator must request approval for
an alternative method of compliance according to paragraph (i) of this
proposed AD.
Costs of Compliance
The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would
affect 62 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following
costs to comply with this proposed AD:
The FAA has determined that revising the existing maintenance or
inspection program takes an average of 90 work-hours per operator,
although the agency recognizes that this number may vary from operator
to operator. Since operators incorporate maintenance or inspection
program changes for their affected fleet(s), the FAA has determined
that a per-operator estimate is more accurate than a per-airplane
estimate. Therefore, the FAA estimates the average total cost per
operator to be $7,650 (90 work-hours x $85 per work-hour).
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.
The FAA is 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
The FAA determined that this proposed AD would not have federalism
implications under Executive Order 13132. This proposed AD would 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 this proposed
regulation:
(1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive
Order 12866,
(2) Would not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska, and
(3) Would 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.
The Proposed Amendment
Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the
Administrator, the FAA proposes to amend 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:
The Boeing Company: Docket No. FAA-2022-1063; Project Identifier AD-
2021-01339-T.
(a) Comments Due Date
The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive
(AD) by January 12, 2023.
(b) Affected ADs
None.
(c) Applicability
This AD applies to The Boeing Company Model 737-8, 737-9, and
737-8200 airplanes, certificated in any category, identified in
paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this AD.
(1) Airplanes with an original airworthiness certificate or
original export certificate of airworthiness issued on or before
April 1, 2021.
(2) Airplanes with line numbers 7668, 7678, and 7915.
(d) Subject
Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 28, Fuel.
(e) Unsafe Condition
This AD was prompted by significant changes made to an
airworthiness limitation (AWL) related to the nitrogen generation
system (NGS). The FAA is issuing this AD to prevent increasing the
flammability exposure of the center fuel tank, which together with
an ignition source in the fuel tank, could lead to a fuel tank
explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.
(f) Compliance
Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified,
unless already done.
(g) Maintenance or Inspection Program Revision
Within 60 days after the effective date of this AD, revise the
existing maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to
incorporate the information specified in AWL No. 47-AWL-09,
``Nitrogen Generation System--Oxygen Sensor,'' of Boeing 737-7/8/
8200/9/10 Special Compliance Items/Airworthiness Limitations,
D626A011-9-04, dated January 2019. The initial compliance time for
the airworthiness limitation instruction (ALI) task is: Within
18,000 flight
[[Page 72904]]
hours after the date of issuance of the original airworthiness
certificate or the original export certificate of airworthiness,
within 18,000 flight hours after the most recent replacement was
performed as specified in AWL No. 47-AWL-09, or within 12 months
after the effective date of this AD, whichever is latest.
(h) No Alternative Actions or Intervals
After the existing maintenance or inspection program has been
revised as required by paragraph (g) of this AD, no alternative
actions (e.g., inspections) or intervals may be used unless the
actions and intervals are approved as an alternative method of
compliance (AMOC) in accordance with the procedures specified in
paragraph (i) of this AD.
(i) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)
(1) The Manager, Seattle ACO Branch, 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 responsible Flight Standards Office,
as appropriate. If sending information directly to the manager of
the certification office, send it to the attention of the person
identified in paragraph (j)(1) of this AD. Information may be
emailed to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#774e5a36393a5a24121603031b125a3634385a363a38345a25120602120403043711161659101801"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9d0c4a8a7a4c4ba8c889d9d858cc4a8aaa6c4a8a4a6aac4bb8c989c8c9a9d9aa98f8888c78e869f">[email protected]</span></a>.
(2) Before using any approved AMOC, notify your appropriate
principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, the manager
of the responsible Flight Standards Office.
(3) An AMOC that provides an acceptable level of safety may be
used for any repair, modification, or alteration required by this AD
if it is approved by The Boeing Company Organization Designation
Authorization (ODA) that has been authorized by the Manager, Seattle
ACO Branch, FAA, to make those findings. To be approved, the repair
method, modification deviation, or alteration deviation must meet
the certification basis of the airplane, and the approval must
specifically refer to this AD.
(j) Related Information
(1) For more information about this AD, contact Chris Baker,
Aerospace Engineer, Propulsion Section, FAA, Seattle ACO Branch,
2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198; phone and fax: 206-231-
3552; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4979c869d87809b849c9186da86da96959f9186b4929595da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="92f1fae0fbe1e6fde2faf7e0bce0bcf0f3f9f7e0d2f4f3f3bcf5fde4">[email protected]</span></a>.
(2) For service information identified in this AD, contact
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Contractual & Data Services
(C&DS), 2600 Westminster Blvd., MC 110-SK57, Seal Beach, CA 90740-
5600; telephone 562-797-1717; internet <a href="http://myboeingfleet.com">myboeingfleet.com</a>. You may
view this referenced service information at the FAA, Airworthiness
Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th St.,
Des Moines, WA. For information on the availability of this material
at the FAA, call 206-231-3195.
Issued on August 19, 2022.
Christina Underwood,
Acting Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-25722 Filed 11-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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