The European Aviation Safety Agency yesterday recommended checks on almost half the Airbus A380s in service after new cracks were discovered in the superjumbo’s wings.
“This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” said a directive.
The checks are more urgent the more flights a plane has made and a source close to the matter said they were required on nine out of 67 A380s in service around the world within four days and on 21 others within six weeks.
“Following an unscheduled internal inspection of an A380 wing, some rib feet have been found with cracks originating from the rib to skin panel attachment holes,” the EASA said.
“Further to this finding, inspections were carried out on a number of other aeroplanes where further cracks have been found. During one of those inspections, a new form of rib foot cracking originating from the forward and aft edges of the vertical web of the rib feet has been identified.”
“The new form of cracking is more significant than the original rib foot hole cracking,” the EASA said in a statement.
Airbus said earlier that the “minor supplementary cracks” were “non critical”.
Airbus revealed on January 5 that “minor cracks” had been found on some A380s, but the European planemaker said they posed no safety problem and recommended a way they could be fixed.
Kepler Capital Markets analyst Christophe Menard said in a financial note that the news was negative for Airbus parent company EADS but “we are not overly concerned.”
“This is a negative for EADS, because two occurrences of cracks are embarrassing,” he said.
“It is key that all corrective actions are taken to guarantee safety and stem the current debate over the A380. Continued occurrences of such cracks could be detrimental to the aircraft brand image.”
“We are not overly concerned because the EASA would have grounded the aircraft, if the risk truly jeopardised safety, but a third occurrence of such cracks could lead to some airlines postponing deliveries or taking actions.”
The A380 is the world’s biggest passenger jet and a key product in Airbus’s line-up as it battles its main rival US giant Boeing for the top spot in the world civil airliner industry.
The double-decker plane entered service in 2007 after years of technical delays. There are now 67 in service around the world and, while they have never had a fatal accident, there have been teething problems.