Twenty-five A380, two of which belonging to Air France, are concerned by the inspection process that could be extended to the rest of the fleet depending on the result of the inspections that will be led.
Airbus and the EASA are currently planning an inspection program for the A380s’ Outer Rear Spars (ORS) following reports mentioning cracks on the airplanes in service.
The program revealed within an EASA project about Airworthiness Directives (AD), published on July 5th, encompasses 25 aircraft of the current A380 fleet in service. The operators concerned have to perform in-depth inspections established by a calendar which takes into account the age of the aircraft. Follow-up verifications will be performed every 36 months. The EASA commented on this matter on the AD document that will be closed for consultation on 30 August 2019.
Airbus and the EASA will study the initial results of the inspection and could extend the program to other A380s. The 25 aircraft subject of these initial inspections are comprised within the manufacturer’s series numbers (MSN) 0006 and 0040.