Proposed Rule2023-12698
Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG Engines
Primary source
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Published
June 14, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG (RRD) Model RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60, and 772B-60 engines. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of cracks on affected intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC) rotor shaft balance lands. This proposed AD would require repetitive on-wing or in-shop borescope inspections (BSIs) of the affected IPC rotor shaft balance land for cracks, replacement of any IPC rotor shaft if necessary, and would prohibit the installation of an affected IPC rotor shaft on any engine, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference (IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38759-38762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12698]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA-2023-1212; Project Identifier MCAI-2022-00423-E]
RIN 2120-AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG
Engines
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 all Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG (RRD) Model RB211 Trent
768-60, 772-60, and 772B-60 engines. This proposed AD was prompted by
reports of cracks on affected intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC)
rotor shaft balance lands. This proposed AD would require repetitive
on-wing or in-shop borescope inspections (BSIs) of the affected IPC
rotor shaft balance land for cracks, replacement of any IPC rotor shaft
if necessary, and would prohibit the installation of an affected IPC
rotor shaft on any engine, as specified in a European Union Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by
reference (IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe
condition on these products.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments on this NPRM by July 31, 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.
AD Docket: You may examine the AD docket at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under
Docket No. FAA-2023-1212; 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, the mandatory continuing airworthiness
information (MCAI), any comments received, and other information. The
street address for Docket Operations is listed above.
Material Incorporated by Reference:
<bullet> For EASA service information that is proposed for IBR in
this NPRM, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne,
Germany; phone: +49 221 8999 000; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3e7f7a4d7e5b5f4d5f105b4b4c514e5f105b4b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d1c192e1d383c2e3c7338282f322d3c733828">[email protected]</span></a>; website:
easa.europa.eu. You may find this material on the EASA website at
ad.easa.europa.eu. It is also available at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under Docket
No. FAA-2023-1212.
<bullet> You may view this service information at the FAA,
Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 1200
District Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803. For information on the
availability of this material at the FAA, call (817) 222-5110.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sungmo Cho, Aviation Safety Engineer,
FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: (781)
238-7241; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e596908b82888acb81cb868d8aa5838484cb828a93"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="83f0f6ede4eeecade7ade0ebecc3e5e2e2ade4ecf5">[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-2023-1212; Project Identifier
MCAI-2022-00423-E'' 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
[[Page 38760]]
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
Sungmo Cho, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite
410, Westbury, NY 11590. Any commentary that the FAA receives which is
not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket
for this rulemaking.
Background
EASA, which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the
European Union, has issued EASA AD 2022-0055, dated March 23, 2022
(EASA AD 2022-0055) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an
unsafe condition for all RRD Model RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60, 772B-60,
and 772C-60 engines. The MCAI states that cracking on the IPC rotor
shaft balance land has been historically observed on RRD Model Trent
700 engines. To address this unsafe condition, Roll-Royce (RR)
originally developed Modification 72-AG402, which introduced a revised
balancing method that removed the original balancing weights from the
IPC rotor shaft balance land and published RR Service Bulletin (SB)
RB.211-72-AG402 to provide instructions for an in-service modification.
In addition, RR published Non-Modification Service Bulletin (NMSB)
RB.211-72-AG085, Revision 3, dated August 27, 2021, to provide
instructions for an in-shop eddy current inspection (ECI) of the IPC
rotor shaft balance land. Consequently, EASA issued EASA AD 2018-
0049R2, dated September 13, 2021 (EASA AD 2018-0049R2).
Since EASA issued EASA AD 2018-0049R2, RR determined that some RRD
Model Trent 700 engines (post-RR SB RB.211-72-AG402) were not inspected
in accordance with RR NMSB RB.211-72-AG085 during engine refurbishment
due to the policy applied previously from RR NMSB RB.211-72-AG085,
Revision 2. RR identified the affected batch of IPC rotor shaft balance
lands and published RR NMSB RB.211-72-AK706, Initial Issue, dated
November 24, 2021, which describes procedures to perform a BSI of the
IPC rotor shaft balance land until the in-shop ECI is accomplished in
accordance with RR NMSB RB.211-72-AG085. To address this, EASA issued
the MCAI. This condition, if not addressed, could lead to IPC rotor
shaft failure and consequent uncontained high-energy debris, possibly
resulting in damage to the airplane.
You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under
Docket No. FAA-2023-1212.
Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51
The FAA reviewed EASA AD 2022-0055, which specifies procedures for
performing repetitive on-wing or in-shop BSIs of the IPC rotor shaft
balance land and, if any discrepancies are detected, accomplishing the
applicable corrective actions or replacing the IPC rotor shaft. The
MCAI also specifies prohibiting the installation of an affected IPC
rotor shaft on any engine and that accomplishing an in-shop ECI of the
IPC rotor shaft balance land or replacing the IPC rotor shaft
constitutes as terminating action for the repetitive BSIs.
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 ADDRESSES.
FAA's Determination
These products have been approved by the aviation authority of
another country and are approved for operation in the United States.
Pursuant to the FAA's bilateral agreement with this State of Design
Authority, it has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition described in
the MCAI described above. 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.
Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM
This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified
in the MCAI described previously, except for any differences identified
as exceptions in the regulatory text of this proposed AD and except as
discussed under ``Differences Between this Proposed AD and the MCAI.''
Explanation of Required Compliance Information
In the FAA's ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency of the AD
process, the FAA developed a process to use some civil aviation
authority (CAA) ADs as the primary source of information for compliance
with requirements for corresponding FAA ADs. The FAA has since
coordinated with other manufacturers and CAAs to use this process. As a
result, the FAA proposes to incorporate by reference EASA AD 2022-0055
in the FAA final rule. This proposed AD would, therefore, require
compliance with EASA AD 2022-0055 in its entirety through that
incorporation, except for any differences identified as exceptions in
the regulatory text of this proposed AD. Using common terms that are
the same as the heading of a particular section in the EASA AD does not
mean that operators need comply only with that section. For example,
where the AD requirement refers to ``all required actions within the
compliance times,'' compliance with this AD requirement is not limited
to the section titled ``Required Action(s) and Compliance Time(s)'' in
EASA AD 2022-0055. Service information required by the EASA AD for
compliance will be available at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> by searching for and
locating Docket No. FAA-2023-1212 after the FAA final rule is
published.
Differences Between This Proposed AD and the MCAI
EASA AD 2022-0055 applies to RRD Model RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60,
772B-60, and 772C-60 engines. This proposed AD would not apply to RRD
Model RB211 Trent 772C-60 engines, as this model engine does not have
an FAA type certificate.
Costs of Compliance
The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would
affect 62 engines installed on airplanes of U.S. registry.
The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with this proposed
AD:
[[Page 38761]]
Estimated Costs
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Cost per Cost on U.S.
Action Labor cost Parts cost product operators
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BSI of IPC rotor shaft balance land. 4.5 work-hours x $85 $0 $382.50 $23,715
per hour = $382.50.
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The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary
replacements that would be required based on the results of the
proposed inspection. The agency has no way of determining the number of
aircraft that might need these replacements:
On-Condition Costs
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Cost per
Action Labor cost Parts cost product
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Replace IPC rotor shaft...................... 50 work-hours x $85 per hour = $2,120,000 $2,124,250
$4,250.
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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:
Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG: Docket No. FAA-2023-1212;
Project Identifier MCAI-2022-00423-E.
(a) Comments Due Date
The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive
(AD) by July 31, 2023.
(b) Affected ADs
None.
(c) Applicability
This AD applies to Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG Model
RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60, and 772B-60 engines.
(d) Subject
Joint Aircraft System Component (JASC) Code 7230, Turbine Engine
Compressor Section.
(e) Unsafe Condition
This AD was prompted by reports of cracks on the intermediate-
pressure compressor (IPC) rotor shaft balance land. The FAA is
issuing this AD to detect cracks on the IPC rotor shaft balance
land. The unsafe condition, if not addressed, could lead to IPC
rotor shaft failure and consequent uncontained high-energy debris,
possibly resulting in damage to the airplane.
(f) Compliance
Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified,
unless already done.
(g) Required Actions
Except as specified in paragraphs (h) and (i) of this AD:
Perform all required actions within the compliance times specified
in, and in accordance with, European Union Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) AD 2022-0055, dated March 23, 2022 (EASA AD 2022-0055).
(h) Exceptions to EASA AD 2022-0055
(1) Where EASA AD 2022-0055 refers to its effective date, this
AD requires using the effective date of this AD.
(2) This AD does not adopt the Remarks paragraph of EASA AD
2022-0055.
(3) Where the service information referenced in EASA AD 2022-
0055 specifies to use certain tooling, equivalent tooling may be
used.
(i) No Reporting Requirement
Although the service information referenced in EASA AD 2022-0055
specifies to notify the manufacturer or supply pictures to the
manufacturer of any cracks, dents, or nicks, this AD does not
include that requirement.
(j) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs)
(1) The Manager, International Validation 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 local Flight
Standards District Office, as appropriate. If sending information
directly to the manager of the International Validation Branch, send
it to the attention of the person identified in paragraph (k) of
this AD and email to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c0818e85ed8184ed818d8f8380a6a1a1eea7afb6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7c3d3239513d38513d31333f3c1a1d1d521b130a">[email protected]</span></a>.
(2) 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.
[[Page 38762]]
(k) Additional Information
For more information about this AD, contact Sungmo Cho, Aviation
Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY
11590; phone: (781) 238-7241; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c6f69727b71733278327f74735c7a7d7d327b736a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1162647f767c7e3f753f72797e517770703f767e67">[email protected]</span></a>.
(l) Material Incorporated by Reference
(1) The Director of the Federal Register approved the
incorporation by reference 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) European Union Aviation Safety Agency AD 2022-0055, dated
March 23, 2022.
(ii) [Reserved]
(3) For EASA AD 2022-0055, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3,
50668 Cologne, Germany; phone: +49 221 8999 000; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#67262314270206140649021215081706490212"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5a4a196a580849684cb8090978a9584cb8090">[email protected]</span></a>; website: easa.europa.eu. You may find this EASA
AD on the EASA website at ad.easa.europa.eu.
(4) You may view this service information at the FAA,
Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 1200
District Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803. 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, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#395f4b1750574a495c5a4d5056577957584b58175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1472663a7d7a67647177607d7b7a547a7566753a737b62">[email protected]</span></a>, or go to: <a href="http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html">www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html</a>.
Issued on June 8, 2023.
Michael Linegang,
Acting Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12698 Filed 6-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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