by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 8, 2012 | Industry News |
Reuters has reported this morning that Qantas had decided to ground one of its A380s as a result of discovering the same types of cracks within the wing structure that have plagued other A380s recently.
As a result the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)has issued a directive to now require inspections of ALL A380s regardless of age. Previously the EASA had required inspections only on certain A380 that had met certain criteria based on their age and flight cycles. The EASA has not issued a deadline for these inspections at this point.
I previously wrote about these developing issues and if you’d like to get caught up on them please read my other posts here and here.
Personally, if I were the decision maker within the EASA I would order an immediate grounding of the A380 fleet and order inspections and repairs to take place immediately. Heck, if I am a decision maker within an Airline, I would ground my fleet until I was assured that my passengers would not be at risk. Call me an alarmist, but I’d rather be safe than sorry in this scenario!!
Even though they have always stated that these issues are not putting passengers in risk, how can they be certain? Anytime you have the word ‘crack’ and ‘wing’ in the same sentence has to cause alarm!
What I’m afraid of here is that the EASA may be factoring in economics in its equation which could jeopardize passenger safety. Grounding a fleet obviously would cost millions upon millions in service disruptions.
I’d rather have airlines cancel flights or re-tool their timetables in the short term and fix these issues beyond reproach, versus having to read about a passenger airliner disaster that could have been prevented.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 6, 2012 | Industry News |
As reported today by Reuters, Boeing is undertaking corrective steps to fix an issue that has been discovered with their 787. Boeing is saying that incorrect shimming was creating problems on the aft sections of the 787’s fuselage.
Boeing is also standing by its commitment to build 10 new 787s a month, and this recent set back should not affect that plan at this point.
In the article, it goes on to describe the problem as delamination where layers of the composite material used in building the aircraft are coming undone. According to Boeing the delamination is being caused by repeated stress.
Obviously this is not a good thing when it comes to an aircraft whose fuselage is made up primarily of these layers of composites. Personally I think I am going to wait a fair amount of time before flying on the 787. Even though I am by no stretch an Aeronautic Engineer and I don’t understand the particulars when it comes to using composites in building aircraft, I am however an expert in self preservation and will like to keep it that way for another 40 or 50 years!
I know that with any new aircraft design there will be growing pains and bugs (just ask Airbus and its woes with the A380) that are discovered once a new model of aircraft enters real life use and abuse. It appears that Boeing is on top of the problem and is being proactive about it.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 21, 2012 | Industry News |
As expected, the European Aviation Safety Agency has issued mandatory inspections after cracks within the wing structures of additional A380s were discovered earlier this week.
I had written about this yesterday when it was discovered that 2 more A380s had developed cracks within their wing structures.
No groundings of the Super Jumbo were ordered, and the inspections have to be carried out within 4 days on aircraft with more than 1800 flights, and within 6 weeks on aircraft with more than 1300 flights. The effective date for the directive is January 24, 2012.
This is an excerpt from the EASA’s website:
EASA mandates prompt detailed visual inspections of the wings of 20 A380s
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published Friday 20 January 2012 an Airworthiness Directive to mandate a prompt detailed visual inspection of the wings of 20 Airbus A380.
This inspection, which applies to aircraft that have already completed more than 1300 flights, will have to be performed within six weeks of 24 January 2012. Aircraft that have completed more than 1800 flights will have to be inspected within four days of this date.
EASA and Airbus are working closely together to ensure the continuing safe operations of the A380 aircraft type. In accordance with EASA, Airbus has established a repair scheme if cracks are found during the inspection.
EASA continues to review the situation closely. As a result of the on-going investigation, further mandatory actions may be considered.
HERE IS THE DIRECTIVE AS ISSUED:
