The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ordered checks for possible cracks inside the aircraft’s wings on the entire global fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets under its second airworthiness directive.
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The move to inspect all 68 A380s in service follows Qantas Airways’ decision to ground one of its planes, reporting 36 wing cracks after the aircraft encountered severe turbulence.
EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda told Dow Jones that the revised directive will require A380 operators to check for cracks using non-destructive techniques involving special equipment that detects cracks using high-frequency electrical currents.
Initially, EASA had planned to check 20 A380s operated by Singapore Airlines, Air France and Dubai’s Emirates which had entered into service in 2007.
The EASA airworthiness directive requires detailed visual inspections (DVI) to detect cracks on the wing rib feet and is required to repair them when applicable saying type two cracks may develop on other aeroplanes after a period of time of service.
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By GlobalDataThe latest airworthiness directive supersedes AD 2012- 0013 and EASA has asked the inspection results to be reported to Airbus.
The second interim measure will be applicable to aircraft that have accumulated less than 1,216 flights and they are to be inspected upon accumulation of 1,300 flights.
Aircraft that have clocked between 1,216 and 1,384 flights are ordered for inspection within six weeks of 13 February 2012 while the aircraft that have completed over 1,384 flights will have to be inspected within three weeks of 13 February 2012.
The new fleet-wide inspection order will refocus attention on flaws identified in jets of both Airbus and Boeing while they claim that their newest jets remain safe to fly after problems were caught at an early stage.
EASA had ordered checks on one-third of the A380 fleet last month after cracks were found in L-shaped brackets that fix each wing’s exterior to the internal ribcage-like structure.
Initially, some hairline cracks were detected in some A380 wings in December last year.
Photo: EASA order to inspect all A380s follows Qantas Airways’ grounding of one of its planes that reported 36 wing cracks. Image: Airbus.
