Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model 767 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of cracking at a central part of the structure. This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections of the skin hidden by the upper and lower splice fittings on both sides of the fuselage, and corrective action if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the hidden fuselage skin and cracking, corrosion, and other damage to the splice fittings and adjacent visible fuselage skin and structure that could lead to loss of a primary load path between the fuselage and the wing box, and consequent reduced structural integrity of the airplane.