Airworthiness Directives; Piper Aircraft, Inc. PA-28, PA-32, PA-34, and PA-44 Series Airplanes

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper) PA-28, PA-32, PA-34, and PA-44 series airplanes. This AD requires you to inspect the control wheel shaft on both the pilot and copilot sides and, if necessary, replace the control wheel shaft. This AD results from two field reports of incorrectly assembled control wheel shafts. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct any incorrectly assembled control wheel shafts. This condition, if left uncorrected, could lead to separation of the control wheel shaft, resulting in loss of pitch and roll control.