Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Helicopters

Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register April 29, 2026. Document 2026-08324. Updated Nov. 12, 2026.

What it does

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Helicopters Model MBB-BK 117 D-3 helicopters. The FAA previously sent this AD as an emergency AD to all known U.S. owners and operators of these helicopters. This AD was prompted by a report of a crack on the affected part, which was detected after the crew reported increased vibration of the helicopter. This AD requires inspecting the rotor hub-shaft for a crack and depending on the inspection results, replacing any rotor hub-shaft that has any cracks and reporting information after accomplishment of the replacement. This AD also prohibits installing any affected rotor hub- shaft on any 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 485 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

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

Since then:

What happens next and when

This AD is effective May 14, 2026. Emergency AD 2026-08-51, issued on April 16, 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	2026-08324
Action	Final rule; request for comments.
Agencies	Transportation Department; Federal Aviation Administration
Published	April 29, 2026
Effective date	May 14, 2026
Comments close	June 15, 2026
Regulation identifier (RIN)	2120-AA64
Docket	FAA-2026-3867

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