AD 2020-17-04 Required Installing Lanyard Assemblies On The Passenger Service Units

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2019-03-06, which applied to certain The Boeing Company Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes.

AD 2019-03-06 required installing lanyard assemblies on the passenger service units (PSUs) and, for certain airplanes, on the life vest panels. This AD was prompted by a report indicating that the PSUs became separated from their attachments during several survivable accident sequences, and by the determination that additional actions are necessary for five airplanes. This AD retains the requirements of AD 2019-03-06 and also requires installation of lanyard assemblies on the life vest panels on those five airplanes. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. This AD is effective September 29, 2020.

Supplementary Information: The FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend 14 CFR part 39 to supersede AD 2019-03-06, Amendment 39-19558 (84 FR 5587, February 22, 2019) (“AD 2019-03-06”). AD 2019-03-06 applied to certain The Boeing Company Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. The NPRM published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2020 (85 FR 13581). The NPRM was prompted by a report indicating that the PSUs became separated from their attachments during several survivable accident sequences, and by the determination that additional actions are necessary for five airplanes. The NPRM proposed to retain the requirement to install lanyard assemblies on PSUs and, for certain airplanes, on the life vest panels. The NPRM further proposed to require installing lanyard assemblies on the life vest panels for those five airplanes on which installation was not originally required. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the potential for the PSUs to detach and fall into the cabin, which could lead to passenger injuries and impede egress during an evacuation.

FMI: www.regulations.gov