Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 717-200 airplanes. This AD was prompted by multiple reports of the vertical stabilizer leading edge showing signs of fastener distress. This AD requires a detailed inspection for any distress of the vertical stabilizer leading edge skin, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This AD also requires, for certain airplanes, repetitive detailed inspections of the spar cap for any loose and missing fasteners, repetitive eddy current testing high frequency (ETHF) and radiographic testing (RT) inspections of the spar cap for any crack, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct any crack in the vertical stabilizer leading edge and front spar cap, which may result in the structure becoming unable to support limit load, and may lead to the loss of the vertical stabilizer.