Airworthiness Directives; MD Helicopters, LLC Helicopters

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Aviation Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>14 CFR Part 39</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FAA-2025-3987; Project Identifier AD-2025-00017-R]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2120-AA64</RIN> <SUBJECT>Airworthiness Directives; MD Helicopters, LLC Helicopters</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) 2024-23-06, which applies to certain MD Helicopters, LLC (MDHI) Model 369, 369A, 369D, 369E, 369F, 369FF, 369H, 369HE, 369HM, 369HS, 500N, and 600N helicopters. AD 2024-23-06 requires repetitively inspecting the torque tube assembly and roller bearings, and depending on the results, replacing parts or accomplishing additional inspections. Since the FAA issued AD 2024-23-06, it has been determined that additional torque tube assemblies are affected by this unsafe condition. This proposed AD would continue to require the actions of AD 2024-23-06 and would expand the applicability. 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 January 2, 2026. </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-2025-3987; 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, any comments received, and other information. The street address for Docket Operations is listed above. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Eduardo Orozco-Duran, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 3960 Paramount Boulevard, Lakewood, CA 90712; phone: (562) 627-5264; email: <E T="03">eduardo.orozco-duran@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 using a method listed under the <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> section. Include “Docket No. FAA-2025-3987; Project Identifier AD-2025-00017-R” 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 revise 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 Eduardo Orozco-Duran, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 3960 Paramount Boulevard, Lakewood, CA 90712. 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 2024-23-06, Amendment 39-22885 (89 FR 91248, November 19, 2024) (AD 2024-23-06), for MDHI Model 369, 369A, 369D, 369E, 369F, 369FF, 369H, 369HE, 369HM, 369HS, 500N, and 600N helicopters with a pilot interconnecting cyclic torque tube (torque tube) part number 369H7133-7 installed. AD 2024-23-06 was prompted by a report of a seized and damaged roller bearing assembly in the torque tube assembly of an MDHI Model MD369E helicopter. This damage did not allow the torque tube to rotate as designed, which initiated a crack and resulted in an emergency landing. The seized roller bearings were due to rust compounded with dried grease residue and an aggressive chemical environment. Because the seized roller bearings did not allow the torque tube to rotate freely, additional torsional stresses occurred on the torque tube, which caused a crack to initiate and eventually propagate until the part failed and longitudinal control was lost. Since certain MDHI Model 369, 369A, 369D, 369F, 369FF, 369H, 369HE, 369HM, 369HS, 500N, and 600N helicopters have the same torque tube assembly installed, they are also affected by this unsafe condition. AD 2024-23-06 requires repetitive visual inspections of the torque tube for corrosion and cracks, repetitive visual inspections of the roller bearings for corrosion and degradation, a repetitive freedom-of-movement inspection of the torque tube assembly for binding or ratcheting, and corrective or additional action as necessary. The FAA issued AD 2024-23-06 to prevent failure of the torque tube assembly which, if not addressed, could result in reduced controllability and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Actions Since AD 2024-23-06 Was Issued</HD> Since AD 2024-23-06 was issued, the FAA received a report that additional torque tube assemblies are affected by this unsafe condition and should be included in the AD action. Due to this determination, this proposed AD would expand the applicability to include all MD Helicopters, LLC Model 369, 369A, 369D, 369E, 369F, 369FF, 369H, 369HE, 369HM, 369HS, 500N, and 600N helicopters regardless of the torque tube part number. <HD SOURCE="HD1">FAA's Determination</HD> The FAA is issuing this NPRM after determining that the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop on other products of the same type design. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Proposed AD Requirements in This NPRM</HD> This proposed AD would retain all requirements of AD 2024-23-06 and expand the applicability by removing the specific part number requirement. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Costs of Compliance</HD> The FAA estimates that this AD, if adopted as proposed, would affect 353 helicopters of U.S. registry. The FAA estimates the following costs to comply with this proposed AD: <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,10,10,12"> <TTITLE>Estimated Costs</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Action</CHED> <CHED H="1">Labor cost</CHED> <CHED H="1">Parts cost</CHED> Cost on U.S. operators </CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Visual inspection of torque tube and roller bearings</ENT> <ENT>1 work-hour × $85 per hour = $85</ENT> <ENT>$0</ENT> <ENT>$85</ENT> <ENT>$30,005</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Inspection of torque tube for freedom-of-movement</ENT> <ENT>0.75 work-hours × $85 per hour = $64</ENT> <ENT>0</ENT> <ENT>64</ENT> <ENT>22,592</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> The FAA estimates the following costs to do any necessary replacements that would be required based on the results of the proposed inspection. The agency has no way of determining the number of helicopters that might need these replacements: <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s50,r50,12,12"> <TTITLE>On-Condition Costs</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Action</CHED> <CHED H="1">Labor cost</CHED> <CHED H="1">Parts cost</CHED> <ENT I="01">Replacement of torque tube</ENT> <ENT>6 work-hours × 85 per hour = $510</ENT> <ENT>$4,773</ENT> <ENT>$5,283</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Visual inspection of roller bearings</ENT> <ENT>0.25 work-hour × $85 per hour = $21</ENT> <ENT>0</ENT> <ENT>21</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Replacement of roller bearing</ENT> <ENT>6 work-hours × 85 per hour = $510</ENT> <ENT>210</ENT> <ENT>720</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <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> The F ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 18k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━