Flap fairing missing on Singapore A380
 

Hello !

As an humble aviation enthusiast, and simple passenger, I came here to ask a question to the professionnals.
Two days ago I took the SQ0025 flight, JFK to Frankfurt. Seated on the economy upper deck, I started the flight by enjoying the view from the window, and fell asleep... But when I woke up just after the beginning of the descent, I quickly noticed that something was missing, and I took some pictures. I'm pretty confident that the fairing went missing during the flight, because I would have taken pictures of the wing during push back if I had seen this before !

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3.../DSCF06892.jpg

I quickly informed the crew and their attitude was suprised, but very professionnal. Calmly and quickly they informed the flight deck and said to the two other guys that had noticed the problem that everything was in control and the instruments looked all fine.

We landed quickly but I had the impression that the brakes were not used, or just slightly, because the 380 rolled quite long on the runway with the reverses activated, before coming to a stop.
Everything looked normal and in control, I was impressed.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...k/DSCF0693.jpg

Is that a common occurence to loose such stuff during a flight, and how could it affect the control of the airplane ?

Thnak you guys !

Common occurence - no.

Effect on control - to small to measure or detect.

Falling on someone's head - possibly significant.:)

basenotic - Just for your interest, there are certain acceptable deficiencies for items like some fairings, winglets, panels etc. There is a specific equipment deficiency list which will say if flight is authorised without a certain item and what the penalty in performance and fuel might be. It is possible you left New York without this panel, if such a deficiency is allowable(?), bearing in mind it was in the dark you may have missed it.

As John Farley has said, it is not a common occurrence and the performance penalty would be negligible.

EASA has issued a second airworthiness directive (AD) aimed at preventing Airbus A380 flap track fairings from departing the aircraft in flight, which it says could potentially result "in injuries to persons on the ground."

The safety agency in December issued a similar AD, calling for operators to periodically inspect and possibly replace the number 6 movable flap track fairings (MFTFs) on A380 wings. The alert was based on evidence of cracks and delamination on the composite fairings found during the Engine Alliance-powered A380-861 test campaign in 2008.

For the new AD, issued 26 May, operators must periodically inspect the number 4 MFTFs with ultrasonic and high-frequency eddy current devices or replace the components within 600 flight cycles for Rolls-Royce powered aircraft of 300 flight cycles for Engine Alliance-equipped aircraft. Inspections and replacements for the number 6 fairings continue to apply as well.

The latest issue was discovered after Airbus performed a detailed review on multiple MFTFs (number 2 through number 6) after the December AD concerning the number 6 MFTF. "This investigation has revealed some cracking at MFTF number 4 pivot support ring," EASA states.

The aircraft can probably dispatch like that. I fly the A320 and we are allowed to operate with one missing with a 2% fuel penalty.