DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2022-1402; Project Identifier MCAI-2022-01094-R;
Amendment 39-22227; AD 2022-22-12]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Bell Textron Inc., Erickson 214
Holdings, LLC, Leonardo S.p.a., and Various Restricted Category
Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for
certain Bell Textron Inc., Model 204B, 205A, 205A-1, 205B, 210, 212,
412, 412CF, and 412EP helicopters; certain Erickson 214 Holdings, LLC,
Model 214B and 214B-1 helicopters; certain Leonardo S.p.a. Model AB412
and AB412 EP helicopters; and certain various restricted category
helicopters. This AD was prompted by reports of two in-service failures
of forward crosstubes due to fatigue damage and the issuance of newly
established life limits. This AD requires determining the total number
of landings on certain part-numbered forward crosstubes and
incorporating requirements (airworthiness limitations) into existing
maintenance records. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe
condition on these products.

DATES: This AD becomes effective November 22, 2022.
The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by
reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of November 22,
2022.
The FAA must receive comments on this AD by December 22, 2022.

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-2022-1402; 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 final rule, 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:
For service information identified in this final rule,
contact Dart Aerospace Ltd. 1270 Aberdeen Street Hawkesbury, ON, K6A
1K7 Canada; telephone 1 613 632 5200; email support@dartaero.com;
internet dartaerospace.com.
You may view this service information 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-2022-1402.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Dowling, Aerospace Engineer,
COS Program Management Section, Operational Safety Branch, Compliance &
Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1600 Stewart Ave., Suite 410, Westbury, NY
11590; telephone (516) 228-7300; email 9-AVS-NYACO-COS@FAA.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

The FAA invites you to send any written data, views, or arguments
about this final rule. Send your comments to an address listed under
ADDRESSES. Include ``Docket No. FAA-2022-1402; Project Identifier MCAI-
2022-01094-R'' at the beginning of your comments. The most helpful
comments reference a specific portion of the final rule, 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 final rule 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 final rule.

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 AD 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 AD, 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 AD.
Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Elizabeth Dowling,
Aerospace Engineer, COS Program Management Section, Operational Safety
Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1600 Stewart Ave.,
Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone (516) 228-7300; email 9-AVS-NYACO-COS@FAA.gov. Any commentary that the FAA receives which is not
specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for
this rulemaking.

Background

Transport Canada, which is the aviation authority for Canada,
issued Transport Canada AD CF-2022-46, dated August 12, 2022 (Transport
Canada AD CF-2022-46), to correct an unsafe condition for Bell Textron
Inc., Model 204B, 205A-1, 205B, 212, 214B, 214B-1, 412, 412 CF, and 412
EP helicopters, which are modified in accordance with Transport Canada
Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SH01-9 and installed with Dart
Aerospace Ltd. high gear forward crosstube part number (P/N) D212-664-
101 or P/N D212-664-101B. Transport Canada advises of reports of two
in-service failures of Dart Aerospace Ltd. forward crosstube P/N D212-
664-101 on Bell Textron Inc., Model 412 helicopters. Transport Canada
further advises the forward crosstube fractured during landing, and
both failures were due to fatigue damage and involved forward
crosstubes which had accumulated more than 20,000 landings.
Additionally, Transport Canada advises if a forward crosstube fails
without timely mitigating action from the pilot during landing, the
helicopter could contact the ground causing damage to the fuselage and
injury to occupants. Transport Canada advises that Dart Aerospace Ltd.,
issued a revision to the Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) of its
Instructions for Continued Airworthiness, which establishes a new lift
limit for forward crosstubes P/N D212-664-101 and P/N D212-664-101B.
Accordingly, Transport Canada AD CF-2022-46 requires incorporating
the newly established airworthiness limitations for forward crosstubes
P/N D212-664-101 and P/N D212-664-101B by amending Chapter 4
Airworthiness Limitations of Dart Aerospace Ltd., ICA-D212-664 by
inserting Revision 12, dated September 30, 2021. Transport Canada AD
CF-2022-46 also requires removing forward crosstubes P/N D212-664-101
and P/N D212-664-101B with more than 20,000 landings from service and
allows the use of superseding or later revisions of the ALS that are
approved by Transport Canada.
FAA STC No. SR01298NY approves the installation of forward
crosstubes P/N D212-664-101 and P/N D212-664-101B on Bell Textron Inc.,
Model 204B, 205A, 205A-1, 205B, 210, 212, 412, 412CF, and 412EP
helicopters; Erickson 214 Holdings, LLC, Model 214B and 214B-1;
Leonardo S.p.a. Model AB412 and AB412 EP helicopters; and restricted
category Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1H,
UH-1L, and UH-1P helicopters. Accordingly, this AD applies to those
model helicopters.
You may examine Transport Canada AD CF-2022-46 in the AD docket at
regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2022-1402.

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

The FAA reviewed Chapter 4--Airworthiness Limitations (04-00-00),
approved March 23, 2022, of Dart Aerospace Ltd., Instructions for
Continued Airworthiness, ICA-D212-664, Crosstube Installation, Revision
12, dated September 30, 2021 (Dart ICA-D212-664 Rev 12). This service
information specifies life limits for various part-numbered crosstubes.
This revision of the service information adds a newly established life
limit for forward crosstubes P/N D212-664-101 and P/N D212-664-101B.
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 ADDRESSES.

FAA's Determination

These helicopters have been approved by the aviation authority of
Canada and are approved for operation in the United States. Pursuant to
the FAA's bilateral agreement with Canada, Transport Canada, its
technical representative, has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition
described in its AD. The FAA is issuing this AD after determining that
the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop
on other helicopters the same type designs.

AD Requirements

This AD requires determining the total number of landings on
forward crosstubes P/N D212-664-101 and P/N D212-664-101B, and if the
total number of landings cannot be determined, calculating the total
number of landings. For a forward crosstube that has accumulated 20,000
or more total landings or if the total number of landings cannot be
calculated, this AD requires removing the forward crosstube from
service. This AD also requires incorporating requirements
(airworthiness limitations) into existing maintenance records, which
are identified in Dart ICA-D212-664 Rev 12, as described previously.

ADs Mandating Airworthiness Limitations

The FAA has previously mandated airworthiness limitations by
mandating each airworthiness limitation task (e.g., inspections and
replacements (life limits)) as an AD requirement or issuing ADs that
require revising the ALS of the existing maintenance manual or
instructions for continued airworthiness to incorporate new or revised
inspections and life limits. This AD, however, requires operators to
incorporate into maintenance records required by 14 CFR 91.417(a)(2) or
135.439(a)(2), as applicable for your rotorcraft, the requirements
(airworthiness limitations) identified in the ALS service information,
as described previously. The FAA does not intend this as a substantive
change. For these ADs, the ALS requirements for operators are the same
but are complied with differently. Requiring the incorporation of the
new ALS requirements into the existing maintenance records, rather than
requiring individual ALS tasks (e.g., repetitive inspections and
replacements), requires operators to record AD compliance once after
updating the maintenance records, rather than after every time the ALS
task is completed.

Differences Between This AD and the Transport Canada AD

Transport Canada AD CF-2022-46 applies to Bell Textron Inc. Model
204B, 205A-1, 205B, 212, 214B, 214B-1, 412, 412 CF, and 412 EP
helicopters which are modified in accordance with Transport Canada STC
SH01-9 and installed with Dart Aerospace Ltd. high gear forward
crosstube P/N D212-664-101 or P/N D212-664-101B; whereas, this AD
applies to Bell Textron Inc., Model 204B, 205A, 205A-1, 205B, 210, 212, 412,
412CF, and 412EP helicopters; Erickson 214 Holdings, LLC, Model 214B and 214B-1
helicopters; Leonardo S.p.a. Model AB412 and AB412 EP helicopters; and
all restricted category Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E,
UH-1F, UH-1H, UH-1L, and UH-1P helicopters, with Dart Aerospace Ltd.
high gear forward crosstube P/N D212-664-101 or P/N D212-664-101B
installed under (FAA) STC No. SR01298NY.
This AD requires determining the total number of landings on an
affected forward crosstube, defines what is considered a ``landing''
for the purposes of this AD, requires a particular method to calculate
the total number of landings if it cannot be determined, and requires
removing an affected forward crosstube for which the total number of
landings cannot be determined from service, whereas, Transport Canada
AD CF-2022-46 does not contain that information or those actions.
Transport Canada AD CF-2022-46 allows the use of superseding or later
revisions of Dart ICA-D212-664 Rev 12 that are approved by Transport
Canada, whereas this AD does not because referring to documents that do
not exist at the time a final rule is published violates Office of the
Federal Register (OFR) regulations regarding approval of materials
``incorporated by reference'' in rules.

Justification for Immediate Adoption and Determination of the Effective
Date

Section 553(b)(3)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5
U.S.C. 551 et seq.) authorizes agencies to dispense with notice and
comment procedures for rules when the agency, for ``good cause,'' finds
that those procedures are ``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to
the public interest.'' Under this section, an agency, upon finding good
cause, may issue a final rule without providing notice and seeking
comment prior to issuance. Further, section 553(d) of the APA
authorizes agencies to make rules effective in less than thirty days,
upon a finding of good cause.
An unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption of
this AD without providing an opportunity for public comments prior to
adoption. The FAA has found that the risk to the flying public
justifies foregoing notice and comment prior to adoption of this rule
because the forward crosstube is a component of a helicopter's landing
gear and is critical to the control of the helicopter during landing.
The FAA also has no information pertaining to the number of forward
crosstubes that have already met or exceeded the newly established life
limit, and fatigue beyond allowable limits of a forward crosstube could
lead to instantaneous failure at any time without any previous
indications. In light of this, the initial actions required by this AD
must be accomplished before further flight. This compliance time is
shorter than the time necessary for the public to comment and for
publication of the final rule. Accordingly, notice and opportunity for
prior public comment are impracticable and contrary to the public
interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B).
In addition, the FAA finds that good cause exists pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(d) for making this amendment effective in less than 30 days,
for the same reasons the FAA found good cause to forego notice and
comment.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) do not
apply when an agency finds good cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 to adopt
a rule without prior notice and comment. Because the FAA has determined
that it has good cause to adopt this rule without prior notice and
comment, RFA analysis is not required.

Costs of Compliance

The FAA estimates that this AD affects up to 594 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 AD.
Determining the total number of landings on an affected forward
crosstube takes about 0.5 work-hour for an estimated cost of $43 per
helicopter and up to $25,542 for the U.S. fleet. Removing an affected
forward crosstube from service and replacing it with an airworthy part
takes about 8 work-hours and parts cost about $6,487 for an estimated
cost of $7,167 per helicopter. Incorporating requirements
(airworthiness limitations) into existing maintenance records takes
about 2 work-hours for an estimated cost of $170 per helicopter and up
to $100,980 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

This AD will not have federalism implications under Executive Order
13132. This AD will 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 that this AD:
(1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive
Order 12866, and
(2) Will not affect intrastate aviation in Alaska.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 39

Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Incorporation by
reference, Safety.

The Amendment

Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the
Administrator, the FAA amends 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: