The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) today ordered detailed inspections on the wings of the Airbus A380 jumbo jet after cracks were found in brackets that secure the wing’s skin to the aircraft. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the safety watchdog warns.

EASA says two types of cracks have been found in the L-shaped brackets, called rib feet, that join the A380′s wing surface to the ribs whose profile defines the wing’s cross sectional shape. The first type of rib foot crack was found when the aircraft damaged in last November’s A380 engine-loss incident was being checked out after repairs.

But after subsequent checking of more of the fleet, engineers found a “more significant” form of cracking has developed on the rib feet of some of the aircraft. So EASA has ordered “detailed visual inspections” within the next six weeks for A380 aircraft that have flown between 1300 and 1799 takeoffs and landings – and within just four days for those with over 1800 flight cycles.

There’s a good reason safety watchdogs take no chances with even the smallest of cracks: it was cracks caused by the then unknown phenomenon of metal fatigue that caused the fatal mid-flight breakups of the De Havilland Comet, the first world’s pressurized, aluminium-skinned jetliner, in the 1950s. Tiny cracks around window portholes eventually propagated, bursting the fuselage, after a certain number of flight pressurizations and depressurizations.

While EASA has not said what might happen if A380 rib feet fail owing to cracking, if a section of wing skin were to separate from the plane the debris could potentially damage any critical structure it collides with – like the tailfin.

Australian aircraft engineers also warned Airbus to inspect the aircraft for cracks in early January.

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Australian aircraft engineers have called for the global fleet of Airbus A380 super-jumbos to be inspected immediately for safety after tiny cracks were found in wing parts of some planes operated by Singapore Airlines and Qantas.

“There is no way on God’s earth that I would be waiting four years to inspect them,” Paul Cousins, the federal president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, told a New Zealand news organisation.

Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath has issued an e-mail statement confirming that minor cracks were found on “non-critical wing-rib attachments” and that the company has developed “an inspection and repair procedure which will be done during routine, scheduled 4-year maintenance checks.”

Singapore Airlines and Qantas have also claimed the cracks pose no threat to safety and repairs have been carried out.

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A Qantas Airways  Airbus A380-800, registration VH-OQC, operating as Flight QF-31 from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was forced to make an emergency landing at Dubai International Airport (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, November 4, 2011 at 1:15 p.m. GST because of an engine problem, according to reports published on that date by The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Malaysian Star, Reuters, Aviation Safety Network, AV Herald, and other news sources.

The flight crew had to shut down the number 4 outboard right hand Trent 972 engine, manufactured by Rolls-Royce,  due to an indication of low oil quantity.

The Airbus A380 jet with 258 passengers and 25 crew members, descended to 28,000 feet, and then was placed in a holding pattern at 10,000 feet for about one hour, before safely landing on the 14,583-foot Runway 30L, about 2-1/2 hours after the engine shutdown.

Last Friday’s incident occurred exactly one year after the midair blowout of a Trent 900 engine aboard Qantas Flight QF-32,  VH-OQA, on a trip from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) in Sydney, Australia.

That plane was forced to make an emergency return landing in Singapore, while showering debris onto houses and a shopping mall below the flight path in neighboring Indonesia.

The engine explosion also caused serious and multiple structural and mechanical damage to the aircraft.

An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) eventually traced the problem to a manufacturing defect in the Trent 900, which also occurred to other Airbus A380 aircraft that were operated by Singapore Airlines (SQ) and Lufthansa (LH).

Qantas is claiming that this most recent problem is “one-off” and “completely unrelated” to the engine blow-out last year that caused the entire Qantas fleet of Airbus A380-800 planes to be grounded.

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Rolls-Royce introduced the first of a two-phase performance improvement for the Trent 900 engines that power the Airbus A380 airliner. Turbofans now delivered to A380 operators have a 1-percent improvement in specific fuel consumption, compared with the initial units. Second-phase improvements due to enter service during 2013 will deliver a further 0.8-percent reduction in fuel burn.

In an October 21 press briefing, Trent 900 program director Rosie Toogood explained that all the improvements introduced focus on improving air flow and cooling of the engines. The first performance improvement package includes new elliptical leading edges (ELEs), tighter low-pressure tip clearance and a new hard coating for the high-pressure compressor drum. The second performance-improvement package, which is in its final stages, will cover the following elements: optimized fan blade tip clearance, better cooling of the turbine case, improved sealing for the low-pressure turbine, ELEs for the engine section stators, reprofiling of engine frames and upgrades to the air system.

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The first Airbus A380 for Malaysia Airlines successfully completed its maiden flight on 20th October after completion of the final assembly and system tests in Toulouse, France.

After a successful flight of five hours, the aircraft returned to Toulouse to be prepared for its next journey to the Airbus facilities in Hamburg, Germany for cabin installation and painting. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, the aircraft is the first of six A380s ordered by Malaysia Airlines, scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2012.

Malaysia Airlines will be the 8th airline to operate the A380.

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None of the 500 people on board the Emirates Airlines Airbus A380 were injured as the plane flew through a storm as it approached London’s Heathrow Airport on April 23.

Videographer Chris Dawson, 37, pointed his digital camera at the plane from his balcony in south-west London about 7.30pm local time.

“I saw a storm coming and I thought there could be lightning,” he told Abu Dhabi’s English language newspaper The National.

“I wasn’t expecting it to hit a plane but I just got lucky.”

A United Emirates spokesperson said lightning strikes are not uncommon and that every plane in its fleet is designed and certified to withstand a lightning strike.

The average lightning bolt produces a current of 20,000 amps and can reach temperatures of 30,000C

But an airplane’s metal hull forms a Faraday cage that protects it from lightning, carrying the electric charge through the hull and expelling it at an output point without harming the aircraft or the passengers inside.

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An Air France Airbus A380 jet clipped a small commuter plane while taxiing Monday night. The Air France airbus was taxing for takeoff to Paris when its wing collided with the tail of a Comair commuter jet. The double-decker jumbo jet, whose wingspan measures 80 meters (262 feet), misjudged its taxiing space, driving its left wing into the tail of the other plane.

The CRJ-700 Bombardier aircraft, run by Delta Connection, spun nearly 90 degrees as the Air France flight continued down the taxiway. The 62 passengers aboard the jet plane had just arrived from Boston and were given quite a scare. There were no casualties on either aircraft.

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Europe’s air safety regulator has lifted the requirement for frequent, repetitive engine inspections of Rolls-Royce engines fitted to the Airbus A380 superjumbo, partly out of concern the inspections could now be doing more harm than good.

In the wake of the engine explosion under the wing of Qantas flight QF32 on November 4, the European Aviation Safety Agency required that Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines fitted to Airbus A380s be inspected for oil leaks every 20 to 100 flights.

The relaxation comes despite Australian safety investigators launching new investigations into oil leaks in two Trent 900 engines on separate Qantas planes last month.

The oil leaks may have occurred because external oil pipes on two Trent 900s were done up improperly.

And the incidence of leaks has spread, with Singapore Airlines confirming it discovered five cases of oil leaks on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on its Airbus A380 planes.

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A smell of smoke on an Airbus A380 was detected during a flight of Singapore Airlines on Jan. 31 and investigators later found burn marks on electrical wirings under a toilet, the airline said.

There was no fire and the plane landed safely but the ground crew inspected the aircraft after and found the burn marks.

Singapore Airlines said that no further information on the causes was available as the company and Airbus were investigating the matter further. They had checked all other A380 flights and nothing was found.

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The Qantas Airbus A380 engine explosion that required a Sydney-bound jet to return to Singapore shortly after takeoff on Nov. 4 caused at least $70 million in plane damage, according to a report from insurance company Aon. 

The blowout of the A380′s Rolls-Royce engine will likely cost even more when factoring in extra repairs and inspections as well as costs associated with Qantas grounding its A380 fleet for most of this month, the AP reported.

Aon’s report comes as Australian authorities prepare to release its own study on the incident later this week. On the Nov. 4 flight, the A380 experienced engine problems not long after takeoff and returned to Singapore. None of the 440 passengers and 25 crew members were reported injured.

Qantas has said it will seek reimbursement from Rolls-Royce for some of the damages and costs stemming from the incident.

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