Airworthiness Directives; Bell Textron Canada Limited Helicopters

Document 2026-15365 is a Final Rule published by the Department of Transportation in the Federal Register on July 30, 2026, with an effective date of September 3, 2026. The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2024-02- 55, which applies to certain Bell Textron Canada Limited (BTCL) Model 505 helicopters. AD 2024-02-55 required 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 AD continues 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 AD also requires replacing the vertical stabilizer top end cap assembly with an improved design top end cap assembly, which constitutes a terminating action for the recurring detailed visual inspections. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. View the original at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/30/2026-15365/airworthiness-directives-bell-textron-canada-limited-helicopters.

No. Document 2026-15365 is not classified as economically significant under Executive Order 12866. Economically significant rules require OIRA review and are estimated to have impacts of $100 million or more per year.