Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters

Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register March 13, 2026. Document 2026-04919. Updated Nov. 13, 2026.

What it does

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Helicopters Model AS332C, AS332C1, AS332L, AS332L1, and SA330J helicopters. This AD was prompted by reports of fatigue cracks found on arms of the tail rotor (TR) pitch change spider due to a load increase originating from degraded bearing stacks. This AD requires reduced life limit intervals for the affected bearing stack and requires replacing the affected bearing stack before exceeding these intervals. This AD also prohibits the installation of the affected bearing stack on a helicopter, unless certain requirements are met. The FAA is issuing this 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 488 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

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

March 13, 2026 Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes
March 13, 2026 Final rule. Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters
March 13, 2026 Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Airworthiness Directives; Various Helicopters
March 13, 2026 Final rule. Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Helicopters
March 12, 2026 Final rule. Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes
March 12, 2026 Final rule. Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes
March 12, 2026 Final rule; request for comments. Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes
March 12, 2026 Final rule. Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

Since then:

What happens next and when

This AD is effective April 17, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

The record as published

Document number	2026-04919
Action	Final rule.
Agencies	Transportation Department; Federal Aviation Administration
Published	March 13, 2026
Effective date	April 17, 2026
Regulation identifier (RIN)	2120-AA64
Docket	FAA-2025-5043

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