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• Airworthiness Directives; Pratt & Whitney RTX Corporation (Type Certificate Previously Held by Pratt & Whitney Division United Technologies Corporatio

  Nov 3, 2026UTAerospace

  The US Federal Aviation Administration has published a proposal in the Federal Register to replace Airworthiness Directive 2026-09-02, which covers certain Pratt & Whitney RTX Corporation PW4000-series engines, including the PW4074, PW4077, PW4084D and PW4090 models and their variants. The existing directive calls for repeated angle ultrasonic scan inspections of several rotating parts to look for cracks: high-pressure compressor 15th-stage disks, front turbine hubs, high-pressure turbine 1st-stage air seals and high-pressure turbine 2nd-stage hubs. Parts showing crack indications must be removed from service and replaced. The excerpt does not detail what the superseding directive would change.

  Source: Federal Register

• Airworthiness Directives; Baykar Piaggio Aerospace S.p.A. (Type Certificate Previously Held by Piaggio Aviation S.p.A.) Airplanes

  Nov 3, 2026ETAerospace

  The Federal Aviation Administration has published a proposed airworthiness directive in the Federal Register covering certain Piaggio Model P-180 airplanes, a type now held by Baykar Piaggio Aerospace. The proposal follows a report that corrosion and cracking were discovered near the heads of fasteners that attach external reinforcement doublers to the lower skin of the main wing. Under the proposed rule, operators would have to carry out repeated high frequency eddy current inspections of the lower skin reinforcement area and take corrective measures where the inspections reveal problems.

  Source: Federal Register

• In-House or Outsourced Scanning? A Decision Framework for Aerospace Suppliers

  Vendor newsNov 3, 2026RTAerospace

  North Star Imaging has published guidance for aerospace suppliers weighing whether to bring digital radiography and computed tomography inspection in-house or send it to an outside provider. The company's view is that most suppliers are better off outsourcing until two conditions are met: a system would be kept busy for roughly half of available production hours on a steady, repeating mix of parts, and the supplier has or can recruit a NAS410 Level 3 to take ownership of the process. Below that usage level, the article argues, outsourcing is nearly always the cheaper option.

  Source: North Star Imaging

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