Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters

Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register Feb. 2, 2026. Document 2026-01955. Updated Nov. 15, 2026.

What it does

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Helicopters Model H160-B helicopters. The FAA previously sent this AD as an emergency AD to all known U.S. owners and operators of these helicopters. This emergency AD was prompted by a report of the main rotor pitch rod rupturing during flight. This AD requires replacing the upper and lower pitch rod end bearings on the pitch rods of the main rotor with new pitch rod end bearings and reporting information after accomplishment of the replacement. This emergency AD also prohibits installing any affected main rotor lower and upper pitch rod end bearings on any helicopter, unless it is a serviceable part. The FAA is issuing this emergency AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Federal Aviation Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

14 CFR 39

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Federal Aviation Administration has published 489 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 518 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

622 earlier Federal Register documents under regulation identifier 2120-AA64 since Jan. 1, 2025.

Since then:

What happens next and when

This AD is effective February 17, 2026. Emergency AD 2026-01-51, issued on January 12, 2026, which contained the requirements of this amendment, was effective with actual notice.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

The record as published

Document number	2026-01955
Action	Final rule; request for comments.
Agencies	Transportation Department; Federal Aviation Administration
Published	Feb. 2, 2026
Effective date	Feb. 17, 2026
Regulation identifier (RIN)	2120-AA64
Docket	FAA-2026-0732

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register