DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2024-2719; Project Identifier MCAI-2024-00664-R;
Amendment 39-22923; AD 2024-26-08]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Leonardo S.p.a. 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 all
Leonardo S.p.a. Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters. This AD was prompted
by reports of broken main landing gear (MLG) shock absorber piston rod
eye ends. This AD requires repetitively inspecting the MLG shock
absorber piston rod eye ends, reporting the results of the inspection,
and, depending on the results, replacing the MLG shock absorber
assembly. It also prohibits installing certain MLG shock absorber
assemblies unless specific requirements are met, as specified in a
European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is incorporated
by reference. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe
condition on these products.

DATES: This AD is effective January 17, 2025.

The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by
reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of January 17, 2025.

The FAA must receive comments on this AD by February 18, 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-2024-2719; 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 EASA material identified in this AD, contact EASA,
Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, Germany; phone: +49 221 8999
000; email: ADs@easa.europa.eu; website: easa.europa.eu. You may find
the EASA material on the EASA website at ad.easa.europa.eu.

You may view this material at the FAA, Office of the
Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 10101 Hillwood Parkway, 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-2024-2719.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Hein, Aviation Safety Engineer,
FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: (316)
946-4116; email: Adam.Hein@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-2024-2719; Project
Identifier MCAI-2024-00664-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 Adam
Hein, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410,
Westbury, NY 11590. Any commentary that the FAA receives which 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 ADs, the most recent being EASA
Emergency AD 2024-0211-E, dated November 7, 2024 (EASA Emergency AD
2024-0211-E) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an unsafe
condition on all Leonardo S.p.a. Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters. The
MCAI states that there have been reports of broken MLG shock absorber
piston rod eye ends and the consequent investigation determined that
the cause was fatigue cracking. The FAA is issuing this AD to address
fatigue cracking of the MLG shock absorber piston rod eye ends. The
unsafe condition, if not detected and corrected, could result in
structural failure of the MLG possibly resulting in damage to the
helicopter and injury to occupants.

You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at regulations.gov under
Docket No. FAA-2024-2719.

Material Incorporated by Reference Under 1 CFR Part 51

The FAA reviewed EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E, which requires
repetitive ultrasonic inspections of the piston rod eye ends of MLG
shock absorber assembly having part number (P/N) 3G3210V00333 or P/N
3G3210V01031 (vendor P/N 1654B0000-01 or P/N 1654C0000-01 respectively)
and, depending on findings, replacing the MLG shock absorber assembly.
EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E also requires reporting the inspection
results to Leonardo. Lastly, EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E prohibits
installing an affected MLG shock absorber assembly on any helicopter
unless its requirements are met.

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 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, it has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition described in
the MCAI referenced above. The FAA is issuing this AD after determining
that the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or
develop on other products of the same type design.

AD Requirements

This AD requires accomplishing the actions specified in the MCAI,
described previously, except for any differences identified as
exceptions in the regulatory text of this 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,
EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E is incorporated by reference in this AD.
This AD requires compliance with EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E in its
entirety through that incorporation, except for any differences
identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of this AD. Using
common terms that are the same as the heading of a particular section
in EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E 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 Emergency AD
2024-0211-E. Material required by EASA Emergency AD 2024-0211-E for
compliance will be available at regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-
2024-2719 after this AD is published.

Interim Action

The FAA considers that this AD is an interim action. If final
action is later identified, the FAA might consider further rulemaking then.

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 the MLG shock absorber assembly is part of an assembly that is
critical to the control of a helicopter during landings, which is a
critical phase of flight. The FAA has no information pertaining to the
extent of fatigue damage in MLG shock absorber piston rod eye ends that
may currently exist in helicopters or how quickly the
condition may propagate to failure, therefore, the initial instance of
the inspections must be accomplished within 10 to 100 hours time-in-
service, a time period of approximately 10 days to three months based
on the average flight-hour utilization rates of these helicopters.
Accordingly, notice and opportunity for prior public comment are
impracticable and contrary to the public interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(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 forgo 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 144 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.

Inspecting the MLG shock absorber piston rod takes 1 work-hour for
a cost of $85 per helicopter and $12,240 for the U.S. fleet, per
inspection cycle. Reporting the results takes 1 work-hour for a cost of
$85 per helicopter and $12,240 for the U.S. fleet, per inspection cycle.

If required, replacing a MLG shock absorber assembly takes 20 work-
hours and parts cost up to $39,105 for a cost of up to $40,805 per assembly.

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 take
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: