Airworthiness Directives; The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. PA-24, PA- 28R, PA-30, PA-32R, PA-34, and PA-39 Series Airplanes

This amendment revises AirworthinessDirective (AD) 97-01-01, which currently requires repetitively inspecting the main gear sidebrace studs for cracks on The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper)Models PA-24, PA-28R, PA-30, PA-32R, PA-34, and PA-39 series airplanes, and replacing any main gear sidebrace stud found cracked. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved certain alternative methods of compliance (AMOC) for AD 97-01-01, and has determined that these AMOC's should be incorporated into the AD. This AD will retain all the actions of AD 97-01-01, and will incorporate certain AMOC's as a way of accomplishing the actions specified in AD 97-01-01. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent a main landing gear collapse caused by main gear sidebrace stud cracks, which could result in loss of control of the airplane during landing operations.