Airworthiness Directives; Rockwell Collins, Inc. FMC-4200, FMC-5000, and FMC-6000 Flight Management Computers

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Rockwell Collins) FMC-4200, FMC-5000, and FMC-6000 flight management computers (FMC) that are installed on airplanes. This AD requires you to remove the affected FMC unit and replace it with a new FMC unit or an FMC unit that has been modified to correct a problem with the flight management system (FMS) accepting new information when an existing procedure or flight plan is changed. This AD is the result of a report that an aircraft proceeded beyond the published altitude constraint on an arrival procedure. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent the FMC from retaining and displaying original altitude constraints when an edit or a replacement is made to a procedure or flight plan that shares a waypoint with another procedure or an airway, and there is an altitude constraint on the shared waypoint. Such a condition could cause the pilot to fly the airplane out of the range of the correct altitude constraint. This condition could result in air traffic control or the pilot making flight decisions that put the airplane in unsafe flight conditions.