The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing 767 model aircraft to address corrosion damage on satellite communications (SATCOM) parts.
The AD, published by the FAA on Tuesday, requires repetitive detailed inspections of the SATCOM high gain antenna adapter plate for corrosion damage on Boeing 767-200, 767-300, 767-300F and 767-400ER airplanes.
The FAA stated it had received a report showing corrosion damage was found on a 767’s high gain antenna adapter plate during a heavy maintenance check by an unnamed operator.
The most severe corrosion was found at the nutplates around the edges of the adapter plate, which are used to fasten the antenna assembly to the adapter plate.
“Corrosion was also found at the adapter plate mounting lugs and the area around the bonding strap that are connected between the adapter plate and the airplane skin,” the AD stated. “Contributing factors that lead to an increase in risk of a parts departing airplane (PDA) event include a lack of maintenance inspections and repair procedures, and a lack of nutplate or nutplate recess corrosion protection.”
The FAA stated that a PDA event involving the parts affected could damage the surfaces of primary flight control flaps and rudders, which could jeopardize safety while in flight and during landing.
The FAA estimated that this AD would affect 597 airplanes registered in the U.S., costing U.S. operators $558,195 per inspection cycle.
If adapter plate repairs are needed, the FAA estimated this would cost $425 in labor. The agency estimated that replacing the adapter plate would cost $18,170.
These instructions came the same day that the FAA issued another AD mandating inspections for landing gear on Boeing 717 aircraft to address a 2023 gear collapse incident.
