A proposed rule published Nov. 13 would require wing inspections on certain Boeing 787-8 airplanes following concerns about lightning protection, the U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration said.
The proposal would require checks for particular wing fasteners and further action where the findings require it. It is open for public comment through Dec. 28 and does not establish a final inspection requirement.
The FAA proposed the action after a report that certain fasteners fitted with threaded nuts without cap seals do not reliably protect against potential ignition sources during direct lightning strikes.
The proposed inspections would cover both wings. One check would look between specified ribs, the internal supports within a wing, for fasteners that pass through the wing skin and have a threaded nut beside an electromagnetic effects sleeve.
Other checks would cover the left and right wing fuel tanks, surge tanks and dry bays. Inspectors would look for threaded nuts fitted to fasteners that pass through the upper and lower wing skins.
The proposal would also require an inspection specified in an existing airworthiness limitation, a mandatory maintenance requirement, and follow-up action depending on what inspectors find. The supplied abstract gives no effective date for the proposal.
Separate Treasury Department rules published Nov. 13 put several previously issued sanctions licenses into the Federal Register. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published Iran-related general licenses EE and FF, along with a separate rule publishing Iran-related general license W.
The office also published general licenses 55F and 115D under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations. Another rule published general license 1 under the Cuba sanctions program.
All of those licenses had already been made available on the office’s website. The supplied abstracts do not identify the transactions they authorize, their effective dates or any deadlines, leaving their practical scope unspecified in the material provided.
A separate FAA rule published Nov. 13 amended the legal description of Class C airspace at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas. It takes effect Feb. 18, 2027.
That rule updates the coordinates of the airport reference point to match the FAA’s National Airspace System Resources database. It also corrects the heading format and replaces the outdated term “Airport/Facility Directory” with “Chart Supplement.”
The changes leave the airspace’s lateral boundaries, altitudes and operating requirements unchanged. The rule therefore revises the written description without changing the area covered or the requirements for operating within it.
