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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Last week Airbus delivered their 7,000th aircraft and today Boeing delivered their 7,000th 737 to Dubai-based flydubai. The airplane is flydubai’s 14th Next-Generation 737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior.

The Boeing 737 is the best-selling commercial jetliner of all time with total orders exceeding 9,300 airplanes, including orders for the new 737 MAX.

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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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Boeing Press release for Boeing 747-8i.

Boeing and Lufthansa are fast approaching the next major milestone on the 747-8 Intercontinental program with the start of pre-delivery testing of the new airplane at Lufthansa’s main operations base at Frankfurt Airport from Dec. 6 to Dec. 9.

Lufthansa will conduct a number of tests to help ensure a smooth integration of the newest member of the 747 family into Lufthansa operations. Lufthansa maintenance and engineering personnel will rehearse ground-handling processes for the 747-8 Intercontinental within the airline’s facilities and on its ramps at the airport. In addition, the crews will check how their ground-support equipment accommodates the airplane. These checks will help Lufthansa ensure a smooth entry into service for crews and passengers in early 2012.

The airplane is scheduled to arrive at Frankfurt Airport late afternoon Central European Time (CET) on Dec. 6 after an approximately 9-hour flight from Seattle. Three Lufthansa pilots will join two Boeing pilots on the flight crew for the flight. The airplane will depart early afternoon CET Dec. 9. Lufthansa will release photographs of the airplane’s visit to Frankfurt, at its website http://presse.lufthansa.com/de/mediathek/bildarchiv.html.

The airplane that will visit, known to Boeing as RC021, is one of three airplanes that have served in the 747-8 Intercontinental flight test fleet. It was specifically used to test interior systems such as heating and air conditioning, cabin lighting and systems and galleys.

The airplane is painted white with a gray belly and a blue tail fin – a basecoat of the Lufthansa livery without decals – and will be the fifth 747-8 Intercontinental to join Lufthansa’s fleet when it is delivered in the third quarter 2012. The first 747-8 Intercontinental destined for Lufthansa is completing construction at Boeing’s facility in Everett, Wash.

The 747-8 Intercontinental provides double-digit improvements in fuel economy and carbon emissions per passenger and generates a 30 percent smaller noise footprint than the 747-400. The 747-8 Intercontinental applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that include a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings.

Lufthansa has ordered a total of 20 747-8 Intercontinental airplanes. Boeing and Lufthansa share a strong tradition of innovation and partnership that continues with the new 747-8 Intercontinental.

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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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U.S. airlines must adjust fuel-drain systems in 258 Boeing 747s at a total cost of $10.2 million to prevent leaks that could result in fires, regulators said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will propose the action in the Federal Register tomorrow after receiving a report of fuel leaks in the leading edge of a wing in a 737 plane. The affected 747s have a similar design, the FAA said.

Airlines have five years to complete the adjustment from the time the FAA makes its proposal final, according to the notice posted today. Airlines have 45 days to comment.

The FAA said it issued a directive in 2009 to address the fuel-drain issue in 757 aircraft and is considering rulemakings for 737 and 767 planes.

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Boeing 787  Dreamliner experienced its first operational problem on Sunday, five days after its global debut on regular domestic routes in Japan, it was learned Monday.
All Nippon Airways’  flight 651 departed from Tokyo International Airport at Haneda and was scheduled to arrive at Okayama airport at 8:50 a.m. Sunday (11:50 p.m. Saturday GMT). But it failed to make a landing as planned because of a sign in the cockpit indicating that the main landing gear’s hangar door would not open automatically, informed sources said.
After the aborted landing attempt, the captain operated the main landing gear manually and the plane landed safely some 20 minutes behind schedule, the sources said.
None of the 249 passengers and crew members were injured.

After the landing, ANA found a problem with the hydraulic valve that operates the hangar door and exchanged it with a new one.

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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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