The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is to issue an Airworthiness Directive (AD), mandating the inspections of A380s that have been stored for more than a year.
The AD comes following increased observation of rib feet cracking in the allow main ribs of both wings, especially among aircraft having spent ‘a significant longer period of parking or storage’. If left unattended, the condition, ‘if not detected and corrected, could reduce the structural integrity of an affected wing’.
Aircraft which have parked or stored for more than one year must be satisfactorily inspected before they can return to service. In-service aircraft must also be inspected at an interval determined by their storage factorised time on ground (SFTOG).
EASA to issue A380 airworthiness directive
