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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Airbus has started joining the first 21 m long front fuselage section for the A350 XWB.  This phase will continue over the coming weeks, and once completed, the front fuselage will be transported to the A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse. It will be the first major section of the A350 XWB to enter the final assembly line.

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Airbus delivered today its 7,000th aircraft, an A321, to US Airways – the airline that operates the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world – from the Airbus facility in Hamburg, Germany. This milestone comes just two years after the delivery of Airbus’ 6,000th aircraft which underlines the continued vibrancy of the commercial aviation sector and the market’s clear vote for eco-efficient aircraft.

The 1,000th Airbus delivery was an A340-300 that went to Air France in 1993, nineteen years after the first Airbus aircraft was delivered – an A300B2 also to Air France, in 1974. The 2,000th delivery was six years later in 1999. It took half that time, just three years, to get to the 3,000th delivery in 2002 and three more years to reach 4,000 deliveries. The tempo went up another notch taking Airbus only two years to hand over its 5,000th aircraft, an A330-200 to Qantas in December 2007. The 6,000th Airbus was an A380 which was delivered to Emirates in January 2010.

“It’s particularly fitting that our 7,000th aircraft is an A321 going to US Airways. The airline not only operates the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world; with over 220 A320 Family aircraft flying in US Airways colours today, they also operate the largest fleet of our best-selling, eco-efficient A320 Family,” said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO. “This milestone is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of Airbus teams around the world. We have improved efficiencies company-wide and this has enabled us to deliver record numbers of latest generation aircraft at continually increasing rates, with an environmental footprint ever decreasing.”

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Production of the Airbus A340 four-engine commercial jetliner has ended, making it Airbus’ shortest-lived production model. The aircraft entered service in 1993, but soon began losing favor with carriers due to the economic factors associated with feeding fuel to and maintaining four engines. Demand for the A340 also took a major hit with the expansion of extended operations or ETOPS. As regulators increased the amount of time twin-engine aircraft were allowed to fly away from suitable landing sites under more lenient ETOPS regulations, four-engine aircraft lost a key competitive edge. And, Thursday, Airbus confirmed that it had sold zero A340s over the past two years. Meanwhile, some twin-engine jets from competing manufactures have done quite well.

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Assembly of the first A350 XWB’s 32 m long carbon fibre composite wings has begun at Airbus’ recently-opened North Factory in Broughton, UK.

Pre-assembly of ribs, upper and lower covers and fixed leading and trailing edges already has taken place. These components will be moved into the main assembly jigs for full wing box integration.

Most of the A350 XWB wing is made of carbon composite, including the upper and lower wing covers, stringers, front and rear spars.

Airbus notes that the advanced structural design and superior wing aerodynamics are significant contributors to the aircraft’s 25% fuel-saving performance.

The A350 XWB is scheduled to enter into service in 2014.

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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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Airbus reported on Oct. 24 that it has started assembly of the first A350 XWB’s horizontal tailplane (HTP) in Getafe, Spain. Joining of the two lateral boxes will produce the 17m/56-ft span primary structure of the HTP.

Structural assembly will continue over the coming weeks, followed by installation of the unit’s electric and hydraulic systems. Once the assembly and equipping work is finished, the HTP will be flown by Airbus’ Beluga transport aircraft to the final assembly line in Toulouse, France.

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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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