[cwoodward]

BEA / Airbus went to an incredible amount of trouble to find the debris from an Air France A380 American made engine that exploded over Greenland in 2017. This must have been a costly exercise which I find oddly reassuring. Interesting that the FAA who certified the engine seemed not to have been involved.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-a380-engine-parts-found-under-greenland-sn-459399/?cmpid=NLC|FGFG|FGFIN-2019-0703-GLOB&sfid=70120000000taAh

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alanred13

[canucklad]

I wonder if they would have gone to so much trouble if it had been an integral part of the Airbus built airframe and not an American made part of the structure?

[quote quote=946825]Interesting that the FAA who certified the engine seemed not to have been involved.[/quote]

Would it not have been the NTSB , who I’d trust more than the BEA !

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AFlyingDutchman

[IanFromHKG]

[quote quote=946992]I wonder if they would have gone to so much trouble if it had been an integral part of the Airbus built airframe and not an American made part of the structure?[/quote]

Well, I suspect the BEA would have been just as keen if it had been RR, being just as “foreign”. Whether they would have gone to that much trouble if it had been a SNECMA or Safrans engine I don’t know, but since I imagine BEA are the primary certifying authority for them, perhaps they would have been even more keen?

Airbus probably don’t much care either way.

However, great to see that so much effort was taken. Let’s hope that any problems are identified soon and properly addressed (a very topical point at the moment).

[AFlyingDutchman]

[quote quote=948398]However, great to see that so much effort was taken. Let’s hope that any problems are identified soon and properly addressed (a very topical point at the moment).[/quote]

Especially in light of the new advisory from Airbus to the operators of the 25 oldest A380’s (EK, SQ, QF) to look for cracks in the wing joints.

[cwoodward]

The cracks referred to above are of a minor nature and no aircraft will be grounded as the lengthy time frame to issuing the advisory indicates The issue and was first found in an engine damaged Qantas A380 being re-built in December 20

Minor wing cracks are not infrequent on many aircraft types over many years with the B747-100 having serious front wing spar cracks of up to 500mm long as far back as 1995. Interestingly also discovered by Qantas. Over 100 aircraft were grounded until the problems were addressed by Boeing as if not properly addressed would eventually have caused serious fuel leaks.
It seems that in the past 50 years there have been no major commercial passenger aircraft disasters caused by wing cracks which to me a least is rather reassuring.

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alanred13, AFlyingDutchman

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