The world's largest Airbus A380 operator, Emirates Airline, has found cracks in the wing spars of some superjumbos during inspections. The problem was immediately reported to the regulatory authorities and the European aircraft manufacturer.
The latter has already sent a 60-strong team to Dubai to evaluate the problem and find solutions, reports Aviation Week, citing Emirates boss Jim Clark. Accordingly, Airbus has promised that repairs will be carried out. The bars would have to be reworked in various areas.
What caused the deficiency is currently being evaluated. With 84 Airbus A380s, the Gulf carrier is by far the largest superjumbo operator. The identified deficiencies also mean that the commissioning of units that were temporarily parked due to the corona pandemic is being delayed. For safety reasons, the spar problems must first be resolved with the support of the manufacturer. Specifically, the defects were found on four A380s. One machine can currently be found in Toulouse, France, at Airbus.
Jim Clark said the cracks were discovered during the usual inspections. EASA has also been informed in the meantime. It is assumed at Emirates that there will be an airworthiness directive. This could include having the wing spars inspected regularly. However, the manager also restricts Aviation Week: At the moment it is not a security problem. Nevertheless, Emirates wants to have the defect fixed before it could become one. The areas affected are the upper and lower flanges of the outer rear spar (ORS) between ribs 33 and 49, the outer inner front spar (OIFS) between ribs 8 and 14, and the outer front spar between ribs 38 and 49.
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