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Proposed rule

Airworthiness Directives; Bell Textron Canada Limited Helicopters

Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register April 8, 2026. Document 2026-06788. Updated Nov. 13, 2026.

What it does

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) AD 2024-02-55, which applies to certain Bell Textron Canada Limited (BTCL) Model 505 helicopters. AD 2024-02-55 requires initial and recurring inspections of the vertical stabilizer top end cap assembly and corrective action if a crack is found. Since the FAA issued AD 2024-02- 55, the manufacturer introduced a new one-piece vertical stabilizer machined top end cap assembly, which is implemented during production, and designed a new replacement for the vertical stabilizer machined top end cap assembly currently in service. This proposed AD would continue to require the inspection requirements of AD 2024-02-55 and would limit the applicability to exclude certain serial numbered BTCL Model 505 helicopters with an improved design vertical stabilizer top end cap installed at production. This proposed AD would also require replacing the vertical stabilizer top end cap assembly with an improved design top end cap assembly, which would constitute terminating action for the recurring detailed visual inspections. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

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

What it would change

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

14 CFR 39

Before this

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

Since then:

What happens next and when

The FAA must receive comments on this NPRM by May 26, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Document number2026-06788
ActionNotice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
AgenciesTransportation Department; Federal Aviation Administration
PublishedApril 8, 2026
Comments closeMay 26, 2026
Regulation identifier (RIN)2120-AA64
DocketFAA-2026-3477

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