Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Aviation Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>14 CFR Part 39</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FAA-2024-2022; Project Identifier MCAI-2024-00189-T; Amendment 39-22993; AD 2025-06-05]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2120-AA64</RIN> <SUBJECT>Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 7X, FALCON 900EX, and FALCON 2000EX airplanes. This AD was prompted by reported occurrences of swelling of the lithium-polymer internal and external batteries of certain electronic display units (EDUs). This AD requires modifying certain EDUs and prohibits the installation of affected parts, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference (IBR). The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This AD is effective May 2, 2025. The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference of a certain publication listed in this AD as of May 2, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> <E T="03">AD Docket:</E> You may examine the AD docket at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-2022; 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 address for Docket Operations is 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">Material Incorporated by Reference:</E> • For EASA material identified in this AD, 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> • 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. It is also available at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-2022. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Tom Rodriguez, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY 11590; telephone 206-231-3226; email: <E T="03">tom.rodriguez@faa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> The FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR part 39 by adding an AD that would apply to certain Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 7X, FALCON 900EX, and FALCON 2000EX airplanes. The NPRM published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on August 21, 2024 (89 FR 67572). The NPRM was prompted by AD 2024-0072, dated March 15, 2024 (EASA AD 2024-0072) (also referred to as the MCAI), issued by EASA, which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Union. The MCAI states that occurrences were reported of swelling of the lithium polymer internal and external batteries of CMA-1310 EDUs having part number (P/N) 100-604073-000, with a mod-status between 2 and 6 (inclusive). The swelling occurs due to a high inrush charge and discharge current stress condition applied on a deeply discharged lithium-polymer battery. In the NPRM, the FAA proposed to require modifying certain EDUs and to prohibit the installation of affected parts, as specified in EASA AD 2024-0072. The FAA is issuing this AD to prevent internal and external battery swelling. The unsafe condition, if not addressed, could lead to the thermal runaway of a battery, possibly resulting in the release of heat, smoke, fire, and explosion in the cockpit. You may examine the MCAI in the AD docket at <E T="03">regulations.gov</E> under Docket No. FAA-2024-2022. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Discussion of Final Airworthiness Directive</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Comments</HD> The FAA received comments from an individual who supported the NPRM without change. The FAA also received comments from an individual who supported the NPRM and had additional comments. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Request To Provide Phased Compliance Time</HD> An individual requested that the FAA provide a phased compliance time to help operators, especially in remote areas, deal with logistical problems and get on board with the AD. The individual added that this would allow time for parts to be available, help to minimize operational disruption, and maintain safety. The FAA disagrees with the commenter's request. In developing an appropriate compliance time for this action, the FAA considered the recommendations of the manufacturer, the urgency associated with the subject unsafe condition, the availability of required parts, and the practical aspect of accomplishing the required modification within a period of time that corresponds to the normal scheduled maintenance for most affected operators. According to the manufacturer, an ample number of required parts will be available to modify the U.S. fleet within the proposed compliance time. However, under the provisions of paragraph (i)(1) of this AD, the FAA will consider requests for approval of an extension of the compliance time if sufficient data are submitted to substantiate that the new compliance time would provide an acceptable level of safety. The FAA has not changed this AD in this regard. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Conclusion</HD> This product has been approved by the aviation authority of another country and is 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 reviewed the relevant data, considered the comments received, and determined that air safety requires adopting this AD as proposed. Accordingly, the FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on this product. Except for minor editorial changes, this AD is adopted as proposed in the NPRM. None of the changes will increase the economic burden on any operator. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Material Incorporated by Reference Under 1 CFR Part 51</HD> EASA AD 2024-0072 specifies procedures for modifying CMA-1310 EDUs having P/N 100-604073-000 and with current mod-status between 2 and 6 (inclusive) to a mod-status 7 or higher, including a visual inspection of the external removable battery for defects (swelling) and replacement of any defective external removable battery with a new external removable battery, and updating the BIOS/EC firmware. EASA AD 2024-0072 prohibits the installation of CMA-1310 EDU having P/N 100-604073-000 and with a mod status between 2 and 6 (inclusive) on any airplane. 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 <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> section. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Costs of Compliance</HD> The FAA estimates that this AD affects 719 airplanes of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with this AD: <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12C,xs80,xs80"> <TTITLE>Estimated Costs for Required Actions</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Labor cost</CHED> <CHED H="1">Parts cost</CHED> Cost on U.S. operators </CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Up to 4 work-hours × $85 per hour = $340</ENT> <ENT>$20,840</ENT> <ENT>Up to $21,180</ENT> <ENT>Up to $15,228,420.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary on-condition actions that would be required based on the results of any required actions. The FAA has no way of determining the number of aircraft that might need these on-condition actions: <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,12C,12C"> <TTITLE>Estimated Costs of On-Condition Actions</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Actions</CHED> <CHED H="1">Labor cost</CHED> <CHED H="1">Parts cost</CHED> <ENT I="01">Replace one external battery</ENT> <ENT>1 work-hour × $85 per hour = $85</ENT> <ENT>$430</ENT> <ENT>$515</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> The FAA has included all known costs in its cost estimate. According to the manufacturer, however, some or all the costs of this AD may be covered under warranty, thereby reducing the cost impact on affected operators. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Authority for This Rulemaking</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Regulatory Findings</HD> 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, ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 17k characters. 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