Is AD 2012-12-04 a recurring Airworthiness Directive?

Yes — AD 2012-12-04 requires a repetitive inspection. Next-due depends on the aircraft's time in service.

Which aircraft does AD 2012-12-04 apply to?

AD 2012-12-04 applies to Boeing — models 737-300, 737-400, 737-500, 737. Serial/part conditions may narrow it to specific aircraft.

Airworthiness Directive 2012-12-04

recurring

Official AD 2012-12-04 · FR doc 2012-14377 · 2012-06-18 · airframe

Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

What this AD requires

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. That AD currently requires repetitive external detailed inspections or non-destructive inspections to detect cracks in the fuselage skin along the chem-mill steps at stringers S-1 and S-2R, between station (STA) 400 and STA 460, and repair if necessary. This new AD adds inspections for cracking in additional fuselage skin locations, and repair if necessary. This new AD also reduces the inspection thresholds and repetitive intervals for certain airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of additional crack findings of the fuselage skin at the chem-mill steps. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the fuselage skin panels at the chem- mill steps, which could result in sudden fracture and failure of the fuselage skin panels, and consequent rapid decompression of the airplane.

Repetitive inspection. Re-inspect. The next-due date/hours depend on this aircraft’s time in service — a records report computes it from the logbooks.

Which aircraft AD 2012-12-04 applies to

MakesBoeing

Models737-300, 737-400, 737-500, 737

Applies only to airplanes identified in Boeing Service Bulletin 737-53A1293, Revision 2, dated August 10, 2011.

Whether AD 2012-12-04 actually applies to your aircraft (by serial and installed parts) and whether it’s already complied with comes from that aircraft’s records.

How AD compliance is recorded

A valid compliance record (14 CFR 43.9) states:

Method of compliance — The specific action taken (inspected, replaced, modified) and to what revision.

Date — When the work was done.

Aircraft time — Total time in service / tach at compliance — how recurring next-due is computed.

Signature & certificate — The A&P/IA who returned it to service, with certificate number.

Is AD 2012-12-04 complied with on your aircraft?

Tailplate reads a tail number’s logbooks and matches every applicable AD — including this one — to its compliance evidence, with recurring next-due dates computed.

Look up a tail number →Read the full directive (Federal Register)

Applicability is derived from the FAA directive corpus and is advisory, not a legal airworthiness determination. Compliance is established only from an aircraft’s actual records.