Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Aviation Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>14 CFR Part 39</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FAA-2024-1702; Project Identifier MCAI-2024-00067-T]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2120-AA64</RIN> <SUBJECT>Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2021-25-14, which applies to all Airbus SAS Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, and -133 airplanes; Model A320-211, -212, -214, -216, -231, -232, and -233 airplanes; and Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, and -232 airplanes. AD 2021-25-14 requires repetitive inspections for cracking at the wing manhole access panel attachment holes at certain wing skin panels, and corrective action if necessary. Since the FAA issued AD 2021-25-14, new investigation results identified that the applicability of these inspections must be expanded to all airplanes in an affected configuration, and the associated compliance time must be adapted to these respective configurations. In addition, further investigation results found that the post-repair inspection program tasks in accordance with the Structural Repair Manual for the affected area were inadequate. This proposed AD would continue to require the actions in AD 2021-25-14 and would require expanding the applicability to include New Engine Option (NEO) airplanes and accomplishment of the required actions within updated compliance times, as applicable to airplane configuration, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference (IBR). The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The FAA must receive comments on this proposed AD by August 19, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may send comments, using the procedures found in 14 CFR 11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal:</E> Go to <E T="03">regulations.gov.</E> Follow the instructions for submitting comments. • <E T="03">Fax:</E> 202-493-2251. • <E T="03">Mail:</E> U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. • <E T="03">Hand Delivery:</E> Deliver to Mail address above between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. <E T="03">AD Docket:</E> You may examine the AD docket at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-1702; 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 mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI), any comments received, and other information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed above. <E T="03">Material Incorporated by Reference:</E> • For the EASA ADs identified in this NPRM, contact EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3, 50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone +49 221 8999 000; email <E T="03">ADs@easa.europa.eu;</E> website <E T="03">easa.europa.eu.</E> You may find this material on the EASA website at <E T="03">ad.easa.europa.eu.</E> It is also available at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-1702. • You may view this material at the FAA, Airworthiness Products Section, Operational Safety Branch, 2200 South 216th St., Des Moines, WA. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 206-231-3195. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Timothy Dowling, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 817-222-5102; email: <E T="03">Timothy.P.Dowling@faa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Comments Invited</HD> The FAA invites you to send any written relevant data, views, or arguments about this proposal. Send your comments to an address listed under <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> . Include “Docket No. FAA-2024-1702; Project Identifier MCAI-2024-00067-T” 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 <E T="03">regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information you provide. The agency will also post a report summarizing each substantive verbal contact received about this NPRM. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Confidential Business Information</HD> 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 Timothy Dowling, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; phone: 817-222-5102; email: <E T="03">Timothy.P.Dowling@faa.gov.</E> Any commentary that the FAA receives which is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> The FAA issued AD 2021-25-14, Amendment 39-21858 (86 FR 72171, December 21, 2021) (AD 2021-25-14), for all Airbus SAS Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, and -133 airplanes; Model A320-211, -212, -214, -216, -231, -232, and -233 airplanes; and Model A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, and -232 airplanes. AD 2021-25-14 was prompted by an MCAI originated by EASA, which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Union. EASA issued AD 2021-0256, dated November 16, 2021, to correct an unsafe condition. AD 2021-25-14 requires repetitive inspections at the wing manhole access panel attachment holes at certain wing skin panels on airplanes with Sharklets or its structural reinforcements installed for cracking of the area, and corrective action if necessary. The FAA issued AD 2021-25-14 to address this condition, which could lead to crack propagation, possibly resulting in the reduced structural integrity of the wings. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Actions Since AD 2021-25-14 Was Issued</HD> Since the FAA issued AD 2021-25-14, EASA superseded EASA AD 2021- 0256 and issued EASA AD 2024-0027, dated January 25, 2024 (EASA AD 2024-0027) (also referred to as the MCAI), to correct an unsafe condition for all Airbus SAS Model A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, -133, -151N, -153N, and -171N airplanes; Model A320-211, -212, -214, -215, -216, -231, -232, -233, -251N, -252N, -253N, -271N, -272N, and -273N airplanes; and Model A321-211, -212, -213, -231, -232, -251N, -252N, -253N, -271N, -272N, -251NX, -252NX, -253NX, -271NX, and -272NX airplanes. Model A320-215 airplanes are not certificated by the FAA and are not included on the U.S. type certificate data sheet; this proposed AD therefore does not include those airplanes in the applicability. Additionally, Airbus SAS Model A321-100 series airplanes were inadvertently included in EASA AD 2021-0256, and also in corresponding AD 2021-25-14, despite the Sharklet device not being installed on these airplanes. This AD affects airplanes that have the Sharklet device installed. Therefore, Model A321-100 series airplanes should not have been included in EASA AD 2021-0256 and was corrected with the issuance of EASA AD 2024-0027, and therefore not included in the applicability of this proposed AD. The MCAI states new investigation results highlighted that these inspections must be applied to all models of A319, A320 and A321 airplanes in an affected configuration, and the associated compliance time must be adapted to these configurations. It has been determined that fatigue cracking may occur in affected areas on airplanes having Sharklets installed during production or in service. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to crack initiation and propagation, possibly resulting in reduced structural integrity of the wings. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-1702. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Explanation of Retained Requirements</HD> Although this proposed AD does not explicitly restate the requirements of AD 2021-25-14, this proposed AD would retain all of the requirements of AD 2021-25-14. Those requirements are referenced in EASA AD 2024-0027, which, in turn, is referenced in paragraph (g) of this proposed AD. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Related Service Information Under 1 CFR Part 51</HD> EASA AD 2024-0027 specifies procedures for repetitive detailed visual inspections of the affected areas, and applicable corrective actions. 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