DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2022-1490; Project Identifier MCAI-2022-01177-R]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters

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 Model AS355E, AS355F, AS355F1, AS355F2, and
AS355N helicopters. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of a
partially broken tail rotor drive fan support (fan support) and a
completely broken fan support. This proposed AD would require
repetitively inspecting certain part-numbered fan supports (affected
parts), and depending on the results, removing an affected part from
service and replacing it with a serviceable part, which constitutes
terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This proposed AD
would also require replacing affected parts with serviceable parts
unless already accomplished and prohibit installing an affected part on
any helicopter, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference. 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 19,
2023.

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 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.
Ad Docket: You may examine the AD docket at regulations.gov under
Docket No. FAA-2022-1490; 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 EASA AD, any comments received, and
other information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed
above.
Material Incorporated by Reference:
For EASA material that is incorporated by reference (IBR)
in this NPRM, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne,
Germany; phone: +49 221 8999 000; email: ADs@easa.europa.eu; internet:
easa.europa.eu. You may find this IBR material on the EASA website at
ad.easa.europa.eu.
You may view this 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 at
regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2022-1490.
Other Related Service Information: For Airbus Helicopters service
information identified in this NPRM, contact Airbus Helicopters, 2701
North Forum Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75052; telephone (972) 641-0000 or
(800) 232-0323; fax (972) 641-3775; or at airbus.com/helicopters/services/technical-support.html. This service information is also
available at the FAA contact information under Material Incorporated by
Reference above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jared Hyman, Aerospace Engineer,
Boston ACO Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1200
District Avenue, Burlington, Massachusetts 01803; telephone (781) 238-
7799; email 9-AVS-AIR-BACO-COS@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-2022-1490; Project Identifier
MCAI-2022-01177-R'' 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
regulations.gov, 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 Jared
Hyman, Aerospace Engineer, Boston ACO Branch, Compliance &
Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1200 District Avenue, Burlington,
Massachusetts 01803; telephone (781) 238-7799; email 9-AVS-AIR-BACO-COS
@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.

Background

EASA, which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the
European Union, has issued a series of EASA ADs with the most recent
being EASA AD 2022-0180, dated August 29, 2022 (EASA AD 2022-0180), to
correct an unsafe condition for Airbus Helicopters, formerly
Eurocopter, Eurocopter France, Aerospatiale, Model AS 355 E, AS 355 F,
AS 355 F1, AS 355 F2, and AS 355 N helicopters, all serial numbers.
This proposed AD was prompted by a report of a partially broken
right-hand side (RH) fan support and a completely broken left-hand side
(LH) fan support found during scheduled maintenance on a Model AS355
helicopter. The FAA is proposing this AD to detect a cracked or broken
fan support leg. The unsafe condition, if not addressed, could result
in loss of main gearbox and engine oil cooling function, loss of tail
rotor drive, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. See EASA
AD 2022-0180 for additional background information.

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

EASA AD 2022-0180 requires repetitively inspecting certain part-
numbered RH and LH fan supports for a crack and broken leg and, if
there is any crack or broken leg, replacing the affected fan support
with a serviceable fan support. If the replacement is not required as a
result of the inspection, EASA AD 2022-0180 requires the replacement at
a longer compliance time. EASA AD 2022-0180 also states that the
replacement constitutes terminating action for the repetitive
inspections and prohibits installing an affected part on any
helicopter.
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.

Other Related Service Information

The FAA also reviewed Airbus Helicopters Alert Service Bulletin No.
AS355-05.00.88, Revision 1, dated July 20, 2022. This service
information specifies procedures for inspecting the RH and LH fan
supports for a crack and failure (broken leg), replacing an affected
part with a serviceable part, and performing a balancing of the tail
rotor drive shaft.

FAA's Determination

These helicopters have been approved by EASA and are approved for
operation in the United States. Pursuant to the FAA's bilateral
agreement with the European Union, EASA has notified the FAA about the
unsafe condition described in its AD. The FAA is proposing this AD
after evaluating all known relevant information and determining that
the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop
on other helicopters of these same type designs.

Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM

This proposed AD would require accomplishing the actions specified
in the EASA AD, described previously, as incorporated by reference,
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 EASA 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 EASA AD 2022-0180 by reference in the FAA
final rule. This proposed AD would, therefore, require compliance with
EASA AD 2022-0180 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 EASA AD 2022-0180 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 EASA AD 2022-
0180. Service information referenced in EASA AD 2022-0180 for
compliance will be available at regulations.gov by searching for and
locating Docket No. FAA-2022-1490 after the FAA final rule is
published.

Differences Between This Proposed AD and the EASA AD

EASA AD 2022-0180 requires replacing each affected part with a
serviceable part if any crack or broken leg is found during any
required inspection or if the replacement was not previously performed
as a result of an inspection, whereas this proposed AD would require
removing each affected part from service and replacing with a
serviceable part if any crack or broken leg is found during any
required inspection or if the replacement was not previously performed
as a result of an inspection.

Costs of Compliance

The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would
affect 31 helicopters of U.S. Registry. Labor rates are estimated at
$85 per work-hour. Based on these numbers, the FAA estimates the
following costs to comply with this proposed AD.
Visually inspecting a fan support for a crack and broken leg would
take about 1 work-hour for an estimated cost of $170 per helicopter (2
fan supports per helicopter) per inspection cycle and up to $5,270 for
the U.S. fleet per inspection cycle.
Replacing a fan support would take about 8 work-hours and parts
would cost about $600 for an estimated cost of $1,280 per replacement
and up to $39,680 for the U.S. fleet.

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

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: