After the wings, the "nose" of the A380 problem
Hard times for the 380. After the case of microcracks detected in the wing of the superjumbo, Airbus will he deplore a new problem, this time in the "nose" of the device? The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is interested in any case the rivets of radom, that is to say the cover that protects the radar of the aircraft.
The authority may decide to issue in the coming weeks an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring the change of six rivets aluminum rivets titanium stronger. The 19 airlines that operate the world's fleet of 69 A380, eight months have to do this for an average of 3:30. Clearly, they would have time to schedule it as part of their regular maintenance schedule.
After the decision to order the Efsa a general inspection of the planes of A 380 in service and production, totaling one hundred aircraft, the image of the A380 takes another blow. However, this type of airworthiness directive is very common in aviation. All aircraft receive throughout their careers.
Two types of directives
"The FAA, U.S. aviation safety authority, has issued more than 830 airworthiness directives for Boeing B 747 in forty years," says one at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse. "For an airplane, receiving such a directive is as ordinary as to think about changing the wiper blades on your car or an oil change," says one.
The Aesa issues two types of directives: the current, AD, and urgent, called "emergency AD." In the case of microcracks, the two directives were common. The agency goes up a notch when it considers that the subject can affect flight safety. In this case, companies have little time to react, sometimes not even 24 hours.
In the case of rivets, flight safety is affected in any part, Airbus insists. The manufacturer points out that these are not structural elements. Six rivets 40 to 50 by radom "are not likely to blow up" the unit cover.
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