DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA-2020-1171; Product Identifier 2017-SW-124-AD]
RIN 2120-AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH
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 Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 and
Model MBB-BK 117 D-2 helicopters. This proposed AD was prompted by a
determination that a life limit for the adapter forward (FWD) of the
outboard load system, repetitive inspections of other components of
that system, and for certain helicopters, a modification of the
outboard load system, are necessary to address the unsafe condition.
This proposed AD would require a modification of the outboard load
system for certain helicopters, repetitive inspections of the outboard
load system and its components for any defect (including cracking,
damage, corrosion, and incorrect installation) and applicable
corrective actions, and implementation of a new life limit for the FWD
adapter, as specified in a European 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 proposed AD by April
26,
2021.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, using the procedures found in
14 CFR
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the
instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
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.
Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail address above between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
For material that is proposed for IBR in this AD, contact the EASA,
Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone +49 221 8999
000; email ADs@easa.europa.eu; internet www.easa.europa.eu. You may find
this material on the EASA website at https://ad.easa.europa.eu. You may
view this material at the FAA, Office of the Regional Counsel,
Southwest Region, 10101 Hillwood Pkwy., Room 6N-321, Fort Worth, TX
76177. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA,
call 817-222-5110. It is also available in the AD docket on the
internet at https://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating
Docket No. FAA-2020-1171.
Examining the AD Docket
You may examine the AD docket on the internet at https://www.regulations.
gov by searching for and locating Docket No. FAA-2020-
1171; 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. Comments will be
available in the AD docket shortly after receipt.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Arrigotti, Aviation Safety
Engineer, Large Aircraft Section, International Validation Branch, FAA,
2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA 98198; phone and fax: 206-231-
3218; email: kathleen.arrigotti@faa.gov.
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-2020-1171; Product Identifier
2017-SW-124-AD" 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
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you
provide. The agency will also post a report summarizing each
substantive verbal contact received about this proposal.
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
Kathleen Arrigotti, Aviation Safety Engineer, Large Aircraft Section,
International Validation Branch, FAA, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines,
WA 98198; phone and fax: 206-231-3218; email:
kathleen.arrigotti@faa.gov. Any commentary that the FAA receives that
is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public
docket for this rulemaking.
Discussion
The EASA (now European Union Aviation Safety Agency), which is the
Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Union, has issued
EASA AD 2017-0177, dated September 14, 2017 (EASA AD 2017-0177) (also
referred to as the Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information, or
the MCAI), to correct an unsafe condition for all Airbus Helicopters
Deutschland GmbH Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopters, except the Model C-
2e variant, and all Model MBB-BK 117 D-2 helicopters.
Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH MBB-BK 117 C-2e variant
helicopters are not a unique model on the U.S. type certificate but are
considered a configuration of the Model MBB-BK117 C-2. The U.S. type
certificate data sheet explains that the FAA determined that the type
design changes involved did not rise to the level that required an FAA
amended type certificate. However, the FAA does recognize that
helicopters with these type design changes exist, therefore the
designation Model MBB-BK117 C-2(e) is used, starting from Serial Number
9601. The Model MBB-BK117 C-2(e) is a visual flight rules only
configuration of the Model MBB-BK117 C-2 utilizing a Garmin 500H flight
display system.
This proposed AD was prompted by a determination that a life limit
for the adapter FWD of the outboard load system, repetitive inspections
of other components of that system, and for certain helicopters, a
modification of the outboard load system, are necessary to address the
unsafe condition. The FAA is proposing this AD to address detachment of
an external load or person from the helicopter hoist, resulting in
personal injury, or injury to persons on the ground. See the MCAI for
additional background information.
Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51
EASA AD 2017-0177 describes procedures for modification of the
outboard load system for certain Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopters,
repetitive inspections of the outboard load system and its components
for any defect (including cracking, damage, corrosion, and incorrect
installation) and corrective actions, and implementation of a new life
limit for the FWD adapter (i.e., repetitive replacements). The
corrective actions include replacement of any defective component with
a serviceable part.
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 and Requirements of This Proposed AD
This product has been approved by the aviation authority of another
country, and is approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant
to the bilateral agreement with the State of Design Authority, the FAA
has been notified of the unsafe condition described in the MCAI
referenced above. The FAA is proposing this AD after evaluating all the
relevant information and determining the unsafe condition described
previously is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same
type design.
Proposed AD Requirements
This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified
in EASA AD 2017-0177, described previously, as incorporated by
reference, 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 initially worked with Airbus and EASA to develop a
process to use certain EASA ADs as the primary source of information
for compliance with requirements for corresponding FAA ADs. The FAA has
since coordinated with other manufacturers and civil aviation
authorities (CAAs) to use this process. As a result, EASA AD 2017-0177
will be incorporated by reference in the FAA final rule. This proposed
AD
would, therefore, require compliance with EASA AD 2017-0177 in its entire-
ty, 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 and
compliance times," compliance with this AD requirement is not limited
to the section titled "Required Action(s) and Compliance Time(s)" in
the EASA AD. Service information specified in EASA AD 2017-0177 that is
required for compliance with EASA AD 2017-0177 will be available on the
internet at https://www.regulations.gov by searching for and locating
Docket No. FAA-2020-1171 after the FAA final rule is published.
Costs of Compliance
The FAA estimates that this proposed AD affects 175 helicopters of
U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with
this proposed AD:
Estimated Costs for Required Actions *
Labor cost |
Parts cost |
Cost per product |
Cost on U.S. operators |
2 work-hours x $85 per hour =
$170 |
$1,306 |
$1,476 |
$258,300 |
* The FAA has received no definitive
data that would enable providing cost estimates for the modification specified
in this proposed AD.
The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary on-
condition actions that would be required based on the results of any
required actions. The FAA has no way of determining the number of
helicopters that might need these on-condition actions:
Estimated Costs of On-Condition Action *
Labor cost |
Parts cost |
Cost per product |
2 work-hours x $85 per hour =
$170 |
$ (*) |
$170 (*) |
* The FAA has not received
any definitive data regarding the parts cost,
therefore this table does not include estimated costs for parts.
According to the manufacturer, some or all of the costs of this
proposed AD may be covered under warranty, thereby reducing the cost
impact on affected operators. The FAA does not control warranty
coverage for affected operators. As a result, the FAA has included all
known costs in the cost estimate.
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) Will not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska, and
(3) 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.
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
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]
2. The FAA amends Sec. 39.13 by adding the following new airworthiness
directive:
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