Airbus says it can fix A380 wing problems
In an attempt to quell recent concerns about cracks which have been discovered in the wings of some of its A380 superjumbos, Airbus has announced that it has found the cause and also a simple way to repair the problem. Last week, following the discovery of the cracks, aviation safety authorities in Europe ordered an inspection of the aircraft.
Singapore Airlines, one of Airbus’ biggest customers, said that it had found more cracks in the wings of some of its A380s which had not been discovered during compulsory inspections.
Executive vice president of programmes at Airbus, Tom Williams, said that A380 was safe to fly. He has flow to Dublin to make a statement to an industry conference where he explained that the issue was not related to metal fatigue.
Airbus blamed the problem on the aluminium alloy which had been used to make the wing brackets, the type of bolt being used, and a gap closing method which is putting strain on other components. Officials said that they fully understood the problem and that they could now go about fixing it.
Qatar Airways, which also operates the A380, said that it had confidence that Airbus could fix the problem adding that it would consider delaying delivery of further planes if the issue was not resolved. Qantas has 12 A380s in its fleet, but said it was not required to check them, and did not intend to do so. Qantas engineers had previously said that the checks should be made anyway.