Overview

The Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, specifically Part 39, includes a range of airworthiness directives to ensure the safety of aircraft and aeronautical products. One such directive, AD/CF6/54, was enacted on 7 July 2004 to address the problem of uncontained high pressure turbine disc failures in General Electric Company (GE) CF6-80 model turbine engines. This Airworthiness Directive was issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to mitigate the risk of engine failure, following incidents including one investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The policy objective of this directive is to enhance aviation safety by mandating specific inspection and rework procedures for affected engines, as outlined in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) AD 2004-04-07, and superseding previous directives AD/CF6/44 and AD/CF6/50. This legislative instrument aims to ensure that the unsafe conditions identified are rectified in accordance with the specified requirements and timeframes, thereby safeguarding the integrity of civil aviation operations.

Scope and Application

The Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, specifically Part 39 - 106 under the Civil Aviation Safety Authority Schedule of Airworthiness Directives, apply to the General Electric Company (GE) CF6-80 model turbine engines, as outlined in FAA AD 2004-04-07. This Airworthiness Directive is issued by a delegate of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to address an unsafe condition identified in the specified turbine engines, mandating specific actions to correct this issue. The directive applies to any aircraft or aeronautical products equipped with the identified turbine engines and necessitates adherence to the detailed instructions provided within the requirement section. The directive's implementation is governed by the compliance timeline specified in the requirement document and became effective on 8 July 2004. This AD supersedes previous directives CASA AD/CF6/44 (FAA AD 2001-10-07) and AD/CF6/50 (FAA AD 2003-01-05). The directive was published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 16 June 2004.

Key Provisions

The Airworthiness Directive (AD) issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) under subregulation 39.1(1) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR 1998) pertains to General Electric (GE) CF6-80 model turbine engines (section 1). This AD, identified as AD/CF6/54, aims to address uncontained high pressure turbine disc failures experienced by CF6-80 engines, including an incident investigated in Australia by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) (section 2). The directive mandates specific actions to rectify the unsafe condition of these engines (section 3). The AD requires actions to be taken in accordance with the technical requirements outlined in FAA AD 2004-04-07, which includes the implementation of inspection and rework procedures designed to minimise the risk of high pressure turbine disc failures (section 4). This directive applies to GE CF6-80 model turbine engines as specified in FAA AD 2004-04-07 and supersedes previous CASA ADs related to the same issue (sections 5 and 6). The directive came into effect on 8 July 2004, as specified in the compliance section (section 7). For entities governed by this AD, the primary obligations include adhering to the detailed inspection and rework procedures stipulated in FAA AD 2004-04-07. This involves ensuring that all actions are performed in the specified circumstances and manner, and within the prescribed timeframe to maintain the airworthiness of the affected engines (section 8). Failure to comply with the requirements of this AD may result in civil or criminal consequences. However, the specific penalties for non-compliance are not detailed within the AD itself (section 9).