AD 2008-25-05

You are responsible for having the actions required by this AD performed within the compliance times specified, unless the actions have already been done.

Within 6 months after February 26, 1993 (the effective date of AD 93-01-15), incorporate a revision of the FAA-approved maintenance inspection program that provides no less than the required inspection of the Principal Structural Elements (PSEs) defined in sections 2 and 3 of Volume I of McDonnell Douglas Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Revision 3, dated March 1991, in accordance with section 2 of Volume III-91, dated April 1991, of that document. The non-destructive inspection techniques set forth in sections 2 and 3 of Volume II, Revision 5, dated March 1991, of that SID provide acceptable methods for accomplishing the inspections required by this AD. All inspection results, negative or positive, must be reported to McDonnell Douglas, in accordance with the instructions of section 2 of Volume III-91 of the SID. Information collection requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the OMB under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and have been assigned OMB Control Number 2120-0056.

Cracked structure detected during the inspections required by paragraph (f) of this AD must be repaired before further flight, in accordance with a method approved by the Manager, Los Angeles Aircraft Certification Office (ACO), FAA, Transport Airplane Directorate.

Within 12 months after the effective date of this AD, incorporate a revision of the FAA-approved maintenance inspection program that provides for inspection(s) of the PSEs, in accordance with Boeing Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 All Series Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008. Incorporation of this revision ends the requirements of paragraphs (f) and (g) of this AD.

(i) For all PSEs listed in Section 2 of Boeing Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 All Series Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008, perform an NDI for fatigue cracking of each PSE, in accordance with the NDI procedures specified in Section 2 of McDonnell Douglas Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume II, Revision 8, dated January 2005, at the times specified in paragraph (i)(1), (i)(2), or (i)(3) of this AD, as applicable.

(1) For airplanes that have less than three quarters of the fatigue life threshold (3/4 N TH) as of the effective date of this AD: Perform the NDI for fatigue cracking at the times specified in paragraphs (i)(1)(i) and (i)(1)(ii) of this AD. After reaching the threshold (N TH), repeat the inspection for that PSE at intervals not to exceed ΔNDI/2.

(i) Perform an initial NDI no earlier than one-half of the threshold (1/2 N TH) but before reaching three-quarters of the threshold (3/4 N TH), or within 60 months after the effective date of this AD, whichever occurs later.

(ii) Repeat the NDI no earlier than 3/4 N TH but before reaching the threshold (N TH), or within 18 months after the inspection required by paragraph (i)(1)(i) of this AD, whichever occurs later.

Note 1: The DC-8 SID and this AD refer to the repetitive inspection interval as ΔNDI/2. However, the headings of the tables in section 4 of Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008, of the DC-8 SID refer to the repetitive inspection interval of NDI/2. The values listed under NDI/2 in the tables in section 4 of Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008, of the DC-8 SID are the repetitive inspection intervals, ΔNDI/2.

(2) For airplanes that have reached or exceeded three-quarters of the fatigue life threshold (3/4 N TH), but less than the threshold (N TH), as of the effective date of this AD: Perform an NDI before reaching the threshold (N TH), or within 18 months after the effective date of this AD, whichever occurs later. Thereafter, after passing the threshold (N TH), repeat the inspection for that PSE at intervals not to exceed ΔNDI/2.

(3) For airplanes that have reached or exceeded the fatigue life threshold (N TH) as of the effective date of this AD: Perform an NDI within 18 months after the effective date of this AD. Thereafter, repeat the inspection for that PSE at intervals not to exceed ΔNDI/2.

If any discrepancy (e.g., differences on the airplane from the NDI reference standard, such as PSEs that cannot be inspected as specified in McDonnell Douglas Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume II, Revision 8, dated January 2005, or do not match rework, repair, or modification descriptions in Boeing Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 All Series Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008) is detected during any inspection required by paragraph (i) of this AD, do the action specified in paragraph (j)(1) or (j)(2) of this AD, as applicable.

(1) If a discrepancy is detected during any inspection done before 3/4 N TH or N TH: The area of the PSE affected by the discrepancy must be inspected before N TH or within 18 months after the discovery of the discrepancy, whichever occurs later, in accordance with a method approved by the Manager, Los Angeles ACO.

(2) If a discrepancy is detected during any inspection done after N TH: The area of the PSE affected by the discrepancy must be inspected before the accumulation of an additional ΔNDI/2 or within 18 months after the discovery of the discrepancy, whichever occurs later, in accordance with a method approved by the Manager, Los Angeles ACO.

All negative or positive findings of the inspections done in accordance with paragraph (i) of this AD must be reported to Boeing at the times specified in, and in accordance with, the instructions contained in section 4 of Boeing Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 All Series Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume I, Revision 7, dated March 2008. Information collection requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and have been assigned OMB Control Number 2120-0056.

Any cracked structure of a PSE detected during any inspection required by paragraph (i) of this AD must be repaired before further flight using a method approved in accordance with the procedures specified in paragraph (p) of this AD. Accomplish the actions described in paragraphs (l)(1), (l)(2), and (l)(3) of this AD, at the times specified.

(1) Within 18 months after repair, do a damage tolerance assessment (DTA) that defines the threshold for inspection of the repair and submit the assessment for approval.

(2) Before reaching 75 percent of the repair threshold as determined in paragraph (l)(1) of this AD, submit the inspection methods and repetitive inspection intervals for the repair for approval.

(3) Before the repair threshold, as determined in paragraph (l)(1) of this AD, incorporate the inspection method and repetitive inspection intervals into the FAA-approved structural maintenance or inspection program for the airplane.

Note 2: For the purposes of this AD, we anticipate that submissions of the DTA of the repair, if acceptable, should be approved within 6 months after submission.

Note 3: FAA Order 8110.54, “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness, Responsibilities, Requirements, and Contents” dated July 1, 2005, provides additional guidance about the approval of repairs to PSEs.

Before any airplane that has exceeded the fatigue life threshold (N TH) can be added to an air carrier's operations specifications, a program for the accomplishment of the inspections required by this AD must be established as specified in paragraph (m)(1) or (m)(2) of this AD, as applicable.

(1) For airplanes that have been inspected in accordance with this AD: The inspection of each PSE must be done by the new operator in accordance with the previous operator's schedule and inspection method, or the new operator's schedule and inspection method, at whichever time would result in the earlier accomplishment date for that PSE inspection. The compliance time for accomplishing this inspection must be measured from the last inspection done by the previous operator. After each inspection has been done once, each subsequent inspection must be done in accordance with the new operator's schedule and inspection method.

(2) For airplanes that have not been inspected in accordance with this AD: The inspection of each PSE required by this AD must be done either before adding the airplane to the air carrier's operations specification, or in accordance with a schedule and an inspection method approved by the Manager, Los Angeles ACO. After each inspection has been done once, each subsequent inspection must be done in accordance with the new operator's schedule.

McDonnell Douglas Report No. MDC 91K0262, “DC-8 Aging Aircraft Repair Assessment Program Document,” Revision 1, dated October 2000, provides inspection/replacement programs for certain repairs to the fuselage pressure shell. Accomplishing these repairs and inspection/replacement programs before the effective date of this AD is considered acceptable for compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (g) and (l) of this AD for repairs subject to that document.

(o) Actions done before the effective date of this AD in accordance with Boeing Report No. L26-011, “DC-8 All Series Supplemental Inspection Document (SID),” Volume I, Revision 6, dated July 2005, are acceptable for compliance with the corresponding requirements of this AD.