FAA addresses cracks in certain Boeing 757s with new AD
December 11, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration is addressing the potential for cracks in the fuselage of certain 757 models, including the 757-200, 757-200CB and 757-200PF, building on an initial alert requirements bulletin from January 2022.
The new Airworthiness Directive (AD), effective as of 13 January 2025, follows an analysis highlighting that “current inspections are not adequate to detect cracks in certain sections of the upper frame at the frame splice between certain stringers before a single frame fails”.
The AD now requires an inspection or records review for existing repairs, repetitive inspections for cracks of the upper frame at the frame splices in certain sections, and applicable remedial action. The ruling builds on a previous supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) in April 2024, applicable to the same 757 variants converted into freighters by Aviation Partners Boeing.
Responding to the SNPRM, FedEx Express requested to use “the different figures from the requirements bulletin for the factory freighter airplanes along with shorter repeat intervals associated with those figures;” something the regulator rejected.
United Airlines also stated that the proposed requirement to halve the applicable compliance times and repeat intervals was “excessive and could create an undue burden on the operators”. Although the reduction was proposed “because [conversion specialists Aviation Partners Boeing] does not yet have an approved service bulletin to provide its compliance requirements,” Untied believes a “factor of two is not an accurate determination”. However, the FAA concluded that “this is a conservative and appropriate compliance time for this AD”.
