AD Requirements
This AD requires modification of the battery system, or other actions, in accordance with a method approved by the Manager, Seattle Aircraft Certification Office (ACO), FAA.
............unquote FAA
1. If the authority knew exactly what was wrong, the issue never would have come up.
2. Likewise, the grounding would not have happened, so,
3. It is not possible to delineate the method of ungrounding (specifIically), prior to grounding
It is vague, not because of some systemic flaw in the wording of the AD, but because there is insufficient data to plot a solution. The onus is on the airframer, not the FAA, nor the manager of ACO.
Boeing is not entirely wrong in claiming the grounding was not necessary, from the standpoint that the special regs. were "met". They were completely in the weeds when their people officially petitioned the FAA to "tell us what we need to do....." the AD explained that in its text.......
ANA could have continued its flight, and the system may have met the parameters, or there may have been a catastrophic blaze in the forward EE Bay, and the a/c might have been lost.
I think the FAA got it right.....
Last edited by Lyman; 26th Jan 2013 at 05:27.