DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2023-0159; Project Identifier MCAI-2023-00046-R;
Amendment 39-22326; AD 2023-03-01]
RIN 2120-AA64

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH
(AHD) Helicopters

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for
Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Model BO-105A, BO-105C, BO-
105S, BO-105LS A-1, BO-105LS A-3, MBB-BK 117 A-1, MBB-BK 117 A-3, MBB-
BK 117 A-4, MBB-BK 117 B-1, MBB-BK 117 B-2, MBB-BK 117 C-1, MBB-BK 117
C-2, and MBB-BK 117 D-2 helicopters. This AD was prompted by a report
of a missing main rotor swashplate (swashplate) inner ring (inner
ring). This AD requires inspecting for the presence of the inner ring
and, depending on the results, accomplishing additional actions. This
AD also prohibits installing an affected swashplate unless it is
determined that the inner ring is installed, 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 February 21, 2023.
The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by
reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of February 21,
2023.
The FAA must receive comments on this AD by March 23, 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-2023-0159; 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 address for Docket Operations is listed above.
Material Incorporated by Reference:
For EASA material that is incorporated by reference in
this final rule, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne,
Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 000; email ADs@easa.europa.eu; internet
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 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-2023-0159.
Other Related Service Information: For Airbus Helicopters service
information that is identified in this final rule, 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 https://www.airbus.com/helicopters/services/technical-support.html. You may
also view this service information at the FAA contact information under
Material Incorporated by Reference above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan McCully, Program Manager, COS
Program Management Section, Operational Safety Branch, Compliance &
Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1701 Columbia Ave., Mail Stop: ACO,
College Park, GA 30337; telephone (404) 474-5548; email
william.mccully@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-2023-0159; Project Identifier MCAI-
2023-00046-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 Dan
McCully, Program Manager, COS Program Management Section, Operational
Safety Branch, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, FAA, 1701 Columbia
Ave., Mail Stop: ACO, College Park, GA 30337; telephone (404) 474-5548;
email william.mccully@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 EASA Emergency AD 2023-0006-E, dated January
12, 2023 (EASA AD 2023-0006-E), to correct an unsafe condition on
Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Model BO105 A, BO105 C, BO105
D, BO105 S, BO105 LS A-1, BO105 LS A-3, MBB-BK117 A-1, MBB-BK117 A-3,
MBB-BK117 A-4, MBB-BK117 B-1, MBB-BK117 B-2, MBB-BK117 C-1, MBB-BK117
C-2, and MBB-BK117 D-2 helicopters.
This AD was prompted by a report of a missing inner ring on a Model
MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopter; because the other model helicopters are
subject to the same unsafe condition due to design similarity of the
swashplate, they are included in this AD's applicability. The FAA is
issuing this AD to detect a missing inner ring, which if not addressed,
could result in loss of main rotor control and subsequent loss of
control of the helicopter.
You may examine EASA AD 2023-0006-E in the AD docket at
regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2023-0159.

Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51

EASA AD 2023-0006-E requires inspecting affected swashplates to
determine if the inner ring is installed and, if the inner ring is not
installed or if it cannot be determined if the inner ring is installed,
contacting Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) to obtain approved
instructions and accomplishing those instructions. EASA AD 2023-0006-E
also prohibits installing an affected swashplate unless it is
determined that the inner ring is installed.
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 reviewed Airbus Helicopters Emergency Alert Service
Bulletin (EASB) BO105-40A-110, EASB BO105LS-40A-15, EASB BO105 LS A-3-
STC-0654/3058-40A-3, EASB MBB-BK117-40A-118, and EASB MBB-BK117-62-32-
0001, each Revision 0 and dated January 11, 2023, and co-published as
one document. This service information specifies procedures for a one-
time visual check for installation of the inner ring. If the inner ring
is not installed or if it is difficult to determine if the inner ring
is installed, this service information specifies contacting Airbus
Helicopters for further instructions before further flight.

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, its technical representative,
has notified the FAA of the unsafe condition described in its emergency
AD. The FAA is issuing this AD after evaluating all pertinent
information and determining that the unsafe condition exists and is
likely to exist or develop on other helicopters of these same type
designs.

Requirements of This AD

This AD requires accomplishing the actions specified in EASA AD
2023-0006-E, described previously, as incorporated by reference, except
for any differences identified as exceptions in the regulatory text of
this AD and except as discussed under ``Differences Between this 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,
EASA AD 2023-0006-E is incorporated by reference in this FAA final
rule. This AD, therefore, requires compliance with EASA AD 2023-0006-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 AD 2023-0006-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 AD 2023-0006-E. Service information
referenced in EASA AD 2023-0006-E for compliance will be available at
regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2023-0159 after this final rule is
published.

Differences Between This AD and the EASA AD

This AD is considered interim action and further rulemaking may
follow, whereas EASA AD 2023-0006-E is not considered interim action.
EASA AD 2023-0006-E applies to Model BO105 D helicopters, whereas this
AD does not because that model is not FAA type-certificated.
EASA AD 2023-0006-E requires contacting Airbus Helicopters to
obtain approved instructions and accomplishing those instructions,
whereas this AD requires accomplishing actions in accordance with a
method approved by the FAA, EASA, or Airbus Helicopters Deutschland
GmbH's EASA Design Organization Approval. Alternatively, this AD allows
replacing the swashplate and requires reporting information to Airbus
Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD).

Interim Action

The FAA considers this AD 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)(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 inner ring is part of the main rotor swashplate, which is
critical to the control of a helicopter. A missing inner ring could
result in loss of main rotor control during any phase of flight without
previous indication. The FAA also has no information pertaining to how
quickly the condition may propagate to failure. In light of this, the
initial inspection must be accomplished before further flight.
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 245 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.
Visually inspecting the swashplate for the presence of the inner
ring takes about 0.5 work-hour for an estimated cost of $43 per
helicopter and $10,535 for the U.S. fleet.
The actions that may be needed as a result of the inspection could
vary significantly from helicopter to helicopter. The FAA has no data
to determine the costs to accomplish the additional actions or the
number of helicopters that may require those actions. Alternatively,
replacing the swashplate takes about 120 work-hours and parts cost
about $99,537 for an estimated cost of $109,737 per helicopter.
Reporting information to the manufacturer takes about 1 work-hour for
an estimated cost of $85 per helicopter.

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 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, 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: