Proposed Rule2026-00119
Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP 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
January 7, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model Gulfstream G280 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of the accumulation of water in electrical connectors located in the aft fuselage directly below the empennage, resulting in empennage flight control related crew alerting system (CAS) messages. This proposed AD would require retrofitting the flight controls empennage electrical harness. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 457-459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00119]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA-2025-5404; Project Identifier MCAI-2025-00424-T]
RIN 2120-AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP 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 Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model Gulfstream G280
airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of the accumulation
of water in electrical connectors located in the aft fuselage directly
below the empennage, resulting in empennage flight control related crew
alerting system (CAS) messages. This proposed AD would require
retrofitting the flight controls empennage electrical harness. 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 February
23, 2026.
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-2025-5404; 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 Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) material
identified in this proposed AD, contact: CAAI, P.O. Box 1101, Golan
Street, Airport City, 70100, Israel; telephone 972-3-9774665; fax 972-
3-9774592; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94f5fde4d4f9fbe0baf3fbe2bafdf8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d7b6bea797bab8a3f9b0b8a1f9bebb">[email protected]</span></a>. You may find this material on the CAAI
website at <a href="http://www.gov">www.gov</a>.il/en/pages/israeli-airworthiness-directives. It is
also available at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FAA-2025-5404.
<bullet> You may view this material 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Bolden, Aviation Safety
Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590;
telephone 404-474-5592; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cdbfa4aea5acbfa9e3afa2a1a9a8a38dabacace3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="60120903080112044e020f0c04050e200601014e070f16">[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 using a method listed
under the ADDRESSES section. Include ``Docket No. FAA-2025-5404;
Project Identifier MCAI-2025-00424-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
[[Page 458]]
under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of
this NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Richard Bolden,
Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410,
Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 404-474-5592; email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#eb998288838a998fc58984878f8e85ab8d8a8ac58c849d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6b190208030a190f450904070f0e052b0d0a0a450c041d">[email protected]</span></a>. Any commentary that the FAA receives which is
not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket
for this rulemaking.
Background
The CAAI, which is the aviation authority for Israel, has issued
CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1, dated August 28, 2025 (CAAI AD ISR I-
27-2025-03-06 R1) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an unsafe
condition for certain GALP Model G280 airplanes. The MCAI states that
several reports of empennage flight control related CAS messages have
been attributed to the accumulation of water in electrical connectors
located in the aft fuselage directly below the empennage. The unsafe
condition, if not addressed, could, in combination with various
specific failures or scenarios, result in loss of controllability of
the airplane.
The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on
these products.
You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under
Docket No. FAA-2025-5404.
Material Incorporated by Reference Under 1 CFR Part 51
CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 specifies procedures for
retrofitting the flight controls empennage electrical harness by
replacing the backshells of electrical connectors at the vertical tail
compartment.
This material 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.
FAA's Determination
These products have been approved by the civil 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, that authority has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition
described in the MCAI referenced above. The FAA is issuing this NPRM
after determining that the unsafe condition described previously is
likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.
Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM
This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified
in CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 described previously, except for any
differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this
proposed AD.
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 been
coordinating this process with manufacturers and CAAs. As a result, the
FAA proposes to incorporate CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 by reference
in the FAA final rule. This proposed AD would, therefore, require
compliance with CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 in its entirety through
that incorporation, except for any differences identified as exceptions
in the regulatory text of this proposed AD. Material required by CAAI
AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 for compliance will be available at
<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FAA-2025-5404 after the FAA final rule
is published.
Costs of Compliance
The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would
affect 140 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following
costs to comply with this proposed AD:
Estimated Costs for Required Actions
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Cost per Cost on U.S.
Labor cost Parts cost product operators
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80 work-hours x $85 per hour = $6,800........................ $3,200 $10,000 $1,400,000
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The FAA has included all known costs in its cost estimate.
According to the manufacturer, however, some or all of the costs of
this proposed AD may be covered under warranty, thereby reducing the
cost impact on affected operators.
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:
[[Page 459]]
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:
Gulfstream Aerospace LP: Docket No. FAA-2025-5404; Project
Identifier MCAI-2025-00424-T.
(a) Comments Due Date
The FAA must receive comments on this airworthiness directive
(AD) by February 23, 2026.
(b) Affected ADs
None.
(c) Applicability
This AD applies to Gulfstream Aerospace LP Model Gulfstream G280
airplanes, certificated in any category, as identified in Civil
Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1, dated
August 28, 2025 (CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1).
(d) Subject
Air Transport Association (ATA) of America Code 27, Flight
Controls.
(e) Unsafe Condition
This AD was prompted by reports of the accumulation of water in
electrical connectors located in the aft fuselage directly below the
empennage, resulting in empennage flight control related crew
alerting system (CAS) messages. The FAA is issuing this AD to
address the accumulation of water in electrical connectors located
in the aft fuselage directly below the empennage. The unsafe
condition, if not addressed, could, in combination with various
specific failures or scenarios, result in loss of controllability of
the airplane.
(f) Compliance
Comply with this AD within the compliance times specified,
unless already done.
(g) Requirements
Except as specified in paragraphs (h) and (i) of this AD: Comply
with all required actions and compliance times specified in, and in
accordance with, CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1.
(h) Exceptions to CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1
Where CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06 R1 refers to its effective
date, this AD requires using the effective date of this AD.
(i) No Reporting Requirement
Although the material referenced in CAAI AD ISR I-27-2025-03-06
R1 specifies to submit certain information to the manufacturer, this
AD does not include that requirement.
(j) Additional AD Provisions
The following provisions also apply to this AD:
(1) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs): 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 responsible Flight Standards 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#67262a28242701060649000811"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7b6bab8b4b7919696d9909881">[email protected]</span></a>. Before using any approved AMOC, notify your
appropriate principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector,
the manager of the responsible Flight Standards Office.
(2) Contacting the Manufacturer: For any requirement in this AD
to obtain instructions from a manufacturer, the instructions must be
accomplished using a method approved by the Manager, International
Validation Branch, FAA; or CAAI; or CAAI's authorized Designee. If
approved by the CAAI Designee, the approval must include the
Designee's authorized signature.
(k) Additional Information
For more information about this AD, contact Richard Bolden,
Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410,
Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 404-474-5592; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6a180309020b180e440805060e0f042a0c0b0b440d051c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="82f0ebe1eae3f0e6ace0edeee6e7ecc2e4e3e3ace5edf4">[email protected]</span></a>.
(l) Material Incorporated by Reference
(1) The Director of the Federal Register approved the
incorporation by reference of the material listed in this paragraph
under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.
(2) You must use this material as applicable to do the actions
required by this AD, unless this AD specifies otherwise.
(i) Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) AD ISR I-27-2025-
03-06 R1, dated August 28, 2025.
(ii) [Reserved]
(3) For CAAI material identified in this AD, contact CAAI, P.O.
Box 1101, Golan Street, Airport City, 70100, Israel; telephone 972-
3-9774665; fax 972-3-9774592; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#72131b02321f1d065c151d045c1b1e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ed8c849dad808299c38a829bc38481">[email protected]</span></a>. You may find
this material on the CAAI website at <a href="http://www.gov">www.gov</a>.il/en/pages/israeli-
airworthiness-directives.
(4) You may view this material 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.
(5) You may view this material at the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability
of this material at NARA, visit <a href="http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations">www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations</a> or email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a8ceda86c1c6dbd8cdcbdcc1c7c6e8c6c9dac986cfc7de"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="690f1b4700071a190c0a1d0006072907081b08470e061f">[email protected]</span></a>.
Issued on January 2, 2026.
Christopher R. Parker,
Acting Deputy Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-00119 Filed 1-6-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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