Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 787-8 airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of missing plugs found prior to airplane delivery, during manufacturing inspections, at various locations in certain stringers of the lower lobe cargo compartments. This AD requires drilling a hole and installing and bonding plugs in certain stringers of the lower lobe cargo compartments. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct missing or misaligned plugs which, in the event of a fire, could cause an increased rate of loss of Halon in the lower cargo compartments, and result in the inability to extinguish a fire and consequent loss of control of the airplane.