Australian aircraft engineers says Airbus A380 are not sky-worthy.

January 11, 2012 01:49
Australian aircraft engineers says Airbus A380 are not sky-worthy.

The world's biggest passenger carrier Airbus A380 of Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airlines to be ashored, After the Australian aircraft engineers indentified some crevasses in the wings of their super-jumbos.

Steve Purvinas who is the secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, he quoted that 'We can't carry on to risk with the people's lives and allow the particular aircraft's to fly around and hope that they make it before the coming of their four-yearly inspection,'

Both airlines, and Airbus, admitted that they had discovered cracks, but maintained that the aircraft were safe. In total, 67 Airbus A380s are in use worldwide, on seven airlines.The aircraft are in use by Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa, Korean Airlines and China Southern.

An Airbus spokesperson said, We confirm that cracks were found on non-critical wing attachments on a limited number of A380s, We've traced the origin of these hairline cracks, and developed an inspection and repair procedure which can be done during routine maintenance.'

Singapore Airlines, the world’s second-biggest carrier, operates 14 A380s already and has five on order, while Qantas has taken delivery of 10 of its order of 20 A380 aircraft.

The A380 has been in service for five years. It seats 525 passengers in a typical three-class arrangement. In total, 238 of the aircraft have been ordered by 17 airlines worldwide.

The aeroplanes are assembled in Toulouse, but parts are built across Europe, with the wings being built in Broughton, Wales.

Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways said on Friday they discovered cracks on the wing ribs of their Airbus A380s, but said the cracks pose no threat to safety and repairs have been carried out.

The remarks came after Airbus said on Thursday that engineers discovered minor cracks in the wings of a 'limited number' of A380s, but said the cracks were not affecting the safety of the aircraft.

'Cracks were found on a small number of wing rib feet on an Airbus A380 during inspections in the second half of last year. These pose no safety issue and repairs were carried out on the aircraft,' SIA’s spokesman Nicholas Ionides said in an email.

Repairs were subsequently carried out on a second aircraft. We have kept the relevant regulatory authorities fully informed and will be carrying out inspections and any necessary repairs on other A380s as they go in for routine checks,' he added.

Qantas separately said that 'minuscule cracking' was found in the wing ribs of the Qantas A380 being repaired in Singapore after one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines suffered a mid-air blowout in 2010.

'Investigations have found that the cracking is unrelated to the engine failure incident experienced by this aircraft in November 2010 and is not unique to Qantas. It has now been repaired,' the carrier said in a statement.

'No immediate action is required by A380 operators because the cracking presents no risk whatsoever to flight safety,' Qantas said.    A Lufthansa spokesman said: ‘There is no findings on our side and we have normal operations.’

Airbus said it has traced the origin of the problem and developed an inspection and repair procedure that will be done during routine, scheduled four-year maintenance checks.

Infact Singapore Airlines is one of the foremost operator of such aircraft and also it is one of the worlds second biggest passenger carrier.As it operates 14 A380's and they have more five on order, At the same time Qantas Airlines has already took the delivery of 10 A380's of its 20 A380 aircraft on order. (TS)

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