Is AD 2017-10-20 a recurring Airworthiness Directive?

Yes — AD 2017-10-20 requires a repetitive inspection every 200 hours. Next-due depends on the aircraft's time in service.

Which aircraft does AD 2017-10-20 apply to?

AD 2017-10-20 applies to Piper Aircraft, Inc. — models PA-31, PA-31-300, PA-31-325, PA-31-350. Serial/part conditions may narrow it to specific aircraft.

Airworthiness Directive 2017-10-20

recurring

Official AD 2017-10-20 · FR doc 2017-10407 · 2017-05-25 · airframe

Airworthiness Directives; Piper Aircraft, Inc. Airplanes

What this AD requires

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. Models PA-31, PA-31-300, PA-31-325, and PA-31-350 airplanes. This AD was prompted by fatigue cracking in the fuselage station (FS) 332.00 bulkhead common to the horizontal stabilizer front spar attachment. This AD requires repetitive inspections to detect cracks in the bulkhead and any necessary repairs. This AD also provides an optional modification if no cracks are found that will greatly reduce the likelihood of the specified cracks. We are issuing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

Repetitive inspection. Re-inspect every 200 hours. The next-due date/hours depend on this aircraft’s time in service — a records report computes it from the logbooks.

Which aircraft AD 2017-10-20 applies to

MakesPiper Aircraft, Inc.

ModelsPA-31, PA-31-300, PA-31-325, PA-31-350

Serial-conditional — narrows to serials 31-2–31-900, 31-7300901–31-8312019, 31-5001–31-5004, 31-7305005–31-8553002.

PA-31/PA-31-300/PA-31-325 (Navajo) serial numbers 31-2 through 31-900 and 31-7300901 through 31-8312019; PA-31-350 (Chieftain/T-1020) serial numbers 31-5001 through 31-5004 and 31-7305005 through 31-8553002. The Model PA-31 may also be identified as a PA-31-310 even though that designation is not recognized on the FAA type certificate data sheet.

Whether AD 2017-10-20 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 2017-10-20 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.