DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2024-2546; Project Identifier AD-2024-00574-A;
Amendment 39-22902; AD 2024-24-11]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Cirrus Design Corporation Airplanes

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 Cirrus Design Corporation (Cirrus) Model SR20, SR22, and SR22T
airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report of failure of the upper
power lever. This AD requires repetitively inspecting (visual) the
upper power lever for any crack(s) and depending on the results of any
visual inspection, either inspecting (fluorescent penetrant) or
replacing the upper power lever. This AD also requires reporting all
inspection results to the FAA. The FAA is issuing this AD to address
the unsafe condition on these products.

DATES: This AD is effective December 23, 2024.

The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by
reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of December 23, 2024.

The FAA must receive comments on this AD by January 21, 2025.

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-2024-2546; 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, any comments received, and other
information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed above.

Material Incorporated by Reference:

For Cirrus material identified in this AD, contact Cirrus
Design Corporation, 4515 Taylor Circle, Duluth, MN 55811; phone: (218)
788-3000; fax: (218) 788-3525; email: fieldservice@cirrusaircraft.com;
website: cirrusaircraft.com.

You may view this material at the FAA, Airworthiness
Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 901 Locust, Kansas City,
MO 64106. 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-2024-2546.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Koenig, Aviation Safety
Engineer, FAA, 1801 S Airport Road, Wichita, KS 67209; phone: (847)
294-7127; email: gregory.l.koenig@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
the ADDRESSES section. Include "Docket No. FAA-2024-2546; Project
Identifier AD-2024-00574-A" 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 Gregory
Koenig, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1801 S Airport Road, Wichita, KS
67209. 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 FAA is issuing this AD to correct an unsafe condition on
certain Cirrus Model SR20, SR22, and SR22T airplanes. The FAA received
a report that a Cirrus Model SR20 airplane was involved in an incident
where the upper power lever failed while advancing to full throttle in
preparation for takeoff. The flight was successfully aborted by cutting
fuel to the airplane. After the incident, an additional 26 upper power
levers have been reported to have cracks. The available data indicates
that the probability of visual inspection methods to detect cracks in
the upper power levers are inadequate, and therefore a fluorescent
penetrant inspection (FPI) is also necessary if cracks are not detected
during the visual inspection. These cracks have only been discovered on
upper power levers that include a takeoff/go-around switch. This
condition, if not addressed, could result in loss of engine thrust
control and reduced control of the airplane. The FAA is issuing this AD
to address the unsafe condition on these products.

FAA's Determination

The FAA is issuing this AD because the agency determined the unsafe
condition described previously is likely to exist or develop in other
products of the same type design.

Material Incorporated by Reference Under 1 CFR Part 51

The FAA reviewed Cirrus SR2X Service Bulletin SB2X-76-05, dated
October 29, 2024 (Cirrus SB2X-76-05). This material specifies
procedures for inspecting the upper power lever and replacement of the
upper power lever if cracks are found. 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.

AD Requirements

This AD requires accomplishing the actions specified in the
material described previously, except as discussed under "Differences
Between this AD and the Referenced Material." This AD also requires
sending all inspection results to the FAA.

Differences Between This AD and the Referenced Material

The effectivity in Cirrus SB2X-76-05 specifies certain airplane
serial numbers through 9749, but this AD is applicable to Model SR20,
SR22, and SR22T airplanes, certificated in any category, that are
equipped with upper power lever part number (P/N) 19181-001, 19181-002,
or 46505-001.

Cirrus SB2X-76-05 specifies that the compliance time is within 10
flight hours for airplanes with 2,000 flight hours or more, but this AD
has a compliance time of before an upper power lever accumulates 1,200
hours time-in-service (TIS), within 10 hours TIS on the upper power
lever after the effective date of this AD, or within 15 days after the
effective date of this AD, whichever occurs later. This compliance time
was developed based on data received from the 27 reported incidents,
which indicated that an incident occurred as low as 2,948 hours TIS and
that this unsafe condition could occur on airplanes with 1,200 hours
TIS accumulated on the upper power lever. Based on this incident data,
coupled with the fact that a large number of airplanes are either
approaching or over 1,200 hours TIS and the propagation rate for this
unsafe condition is unknown, the FAA's risk assessment was that the
accumulation of 2,000 flight hours or more would not adequately
mitigate the unsafe condition.

Cirrus SB2X-76-05 includes an action to revise the aircraft
maintenance manual (AMM) by including a temporary revision that
specifies repetitive inspections every 2,000 hours TIS, but this AD
does not require this AMM revision. Instead, this AD requires
repetitive inspections at intervals not to exceed 110 hours TIS. While
Cirrus specifies a repetitive inspection every 2,000 hours TIS, the FAA
is requiring a repetitive inspection at a frequency that considers the
potential development and propagation of these cracks beyond 1,200
hours TIS.

Cirrus SB2X-76-05 does not specify reporting inspection results and
this AD requires reporting inspection results to the FAA.

Cirrus SB2X-76-05 specifies to return cracked (damaged) upper power
levers to Cirrus, but this AD does not require this action. This AD,
instead, requires removing any cracked (damaged) upper power lever from
service.

Replacing the upper power lever with P/N 19181-001, 19181-002, or
46505-001 does not terminate the requirements of this AD. The
inspection would be required before any affected upper power lever
accumulates 1,200 hours TIS.

Interim Action

The FAA considers this AD to be an interim action. The manufacturer
is currently developing a terminating action that will address the
unsafe condition identified in this AD. Once the modification is
developed, approved, and available, the FAA might consider additional
rulemaking.

Justification for Immediate Adoption and Determination of the Effective Date

Section 553(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 forgoing notice and comment prior to adoption of this rule
because cracking in the upper power lever leads to failure of the upper
power lever, which could result in loss of engine thrust control and
reduced control of the airplane. The FAA's initial analysis based on
crack data from the reported incidents shows that this condition could
occur on airplanes with 1,200 hours TIS accumulated on the upper power
lever. Since a large percentage of the Cirrus Model SR20, SR22, and
SR22T airplanes have exceeded or are approaching 1,200 hours TIS and
because the propagation rate for this unsafe condition is unknown, an
inspection of the upper power lever is required within 10 hours TIS or
15 days after the effective date of this AD, whichever occurs later,
for airplanes before accumulating 1,200 hours TIS to detect cracks in
the upper power lever. These compliance times are 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
unnecessary, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b).

In addition, for the foregoing reason(s), 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.

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 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 6,811 airplanes of U.S.
registry.
The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with this AD:

Estimated Costs

The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary
replacements that would be required based on the results of the
inspection. The agency has no way of determining the number of
airplanes that might need this replacement:

On-Condition Costs

The FAA has included all known costs in its cost estimate.
According to the manufacturer, however, some of the costs of this AD
may be covered under warranty, thereby reducing the cost impact on
affected operators.

Paperwork Reduction Act

A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for
failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of
information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. The OMB
Control Number for this information collection is 2120-0056. Public
reporting for this collection of information is estimated to be
approximately 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. All responses to this collection of
information are mandatory. Send comments regarding this burden estimate
or any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden to: Information Collection
Clearance Officer, Federal Aviation Administration, 10101 Hillwood
Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76177-1524.

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: