Older Airbus Jets Get High-Tech Rudder Checks
 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119802209624337975.html

Older Airbus Jets Get High-Tech Rudder Checks

By: ANDY PASZTOR

December 19, 2007; Page D9

The rudders of about 420 older Airbus jetliners are being subjected to repetitive ultrasonic and other enhanced inspections, the first time airlines and safety regulators have resorted to such recurring, high-tech procedures to determine the integrity of composite parts on airliners already in service.

The stepped-up inspection program, recommended by Airbus months ago and then reaffirmed by the European Aviation Safety Agency through a mandatory directive, calls for the first enhanced rudder checks to be completed within six months or 500 flights. Some inspections on certain planes must be repeated every 1,400 flights, a relatively short compliance schedule for checking structural integrity of primary flight structures.

The enhanced inspections, including ultrasound, X-rays and other techniques, stem from a March 2005 incident in which an Air Transat Airbus A310 suddenly lost its rudder over the Caribbean while flying from Cuba to Quebec. There were no injuries, and the plane returned safely to Cuba. But as a result, the plane's manufacturer, Canadian air-safety investigators and European regulators began investigating what, if any, additional inspection requirements were necessary to safeguard the integrity of such rudders used on early model Airbus aircraft.

While the changes primarily affect a relatively small number of older twin-engine A300s and A310s, they nevertheless represent a significant break from longstanding Airbus-developed maintenance standards for composite materials. Before the incident, Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., and European regulators maintained that simple visual inspections, combined with a mechanic's manually tapping on the surface of the composite rudders, were adequate to detect any potentially hazardous internal flaws or structural weaknesses.

But now for the first time, high-tech inspections methods are being required -- and must be repeated during the life of a what Airbus described as a "limited number" of Airbus jets -- to assure long-term rudder integrity. A spokesman for Airbus U.S. operations said only a small number of affected aircraft are flown by U.S. carriers. Spokesman Clay McConnell said about 400 A300 and A310 aircraft are covered by the added inspections, along with 20 wide-body Airbus A330 and A340 jetliners. Mr. McConnell said Airbus changed its rudder-manufacturing process before the 2005 incident.

The issue of how to inspect composites is significant because both Airbus and rival Boeing Co. increasingly are relying on composite parts to improve the fuel-efficiency and reduce maintenance costs for their newest airliner models.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [email protected]

I think any stepping up of checks is to be considered a positive step, especially as these are the first airliners built with composites to have been in service for 30-odd years. A wealth of data about composite integrity over time is about to be collected. This may have significant ramifications for the future of aircraft manufacture.
It could also show that there's nothing to worry about, however.

Yeah, and the first (was it really the first?) incident happened in 2005......

Up to now even not all of the 300s are checked......

Wonderfull.

Interesting.
As a past mechanic I find the text bellow amuseing. Does a duff one make a diffrent noise or do bits fall off!:}

combined with a mechanic's manually tapping on the surface of the composite rudders, were adequate to detect any potentially hazardous internal flaws or structural weaknesses.

Most of these airplanes were designed back in 70's and 80's and of course as the history showed; the problems usually always come later on. I am not so keen on 787 as well as some tests and theories proved that Carbon fibres are great to reduce weight but not so good when it comes down to safety.

N707ZS.......yes the standard test for delamination in composite panel material is tapping with the edge of a coin........the difference between the sound made between good material and delaminated is usually quite easy to detect .

Small puncture allows moisture in, which then freezes at altitude which parts more laminations allowing more moisture ....and so on...

Not so different from wheel-tapping, then. Do they have a social club?

The slight difference is actually explained on this site...

http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/cnde_new...the_tapper.htm

"When the composites group in CNDE took on the job of modernizing the old practice of coin tap four years ago, they had no idea that they would one day use the instrument they developed to map out damages on a rudder of an Airbus A300 failed by its composite tail."

"...a tap test samples the local mechanical property of the structure, specifically the contact stiffness. This is quite different from a global test such as listening to the ?ring? of a railroad wheel after it is struck with a hammer.."

Continues..

Cheers Blink182.

Pity Boeing don't do something similar for the 737-200..... How many rudder hardovers have there been so far? Not to mention engines falling off the wing :rolleyes:

Tired - not even remotely related to each other, aside from the involvement of the rudder.

About time too. :ugh:

It's a pity these new stepped-up inspections were not introduced years ago, might have saved a lot of lives. :(

But it might not have, regardless of what some of us may believe.

True, I said MIGHT, I doubt if anyone will ever know for certain now.