Airbus’s troubled A380 has been hit by yet another embarrassing fault just weeks after it was revealed that cracks were developing inside the superjumbo’s wings. The aircraft’s latest issue is with rivets in the fuselage that safety authorities fear might not be able to withstand extreme forces placed upon them, according to a report in The Telegraph.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is now considering an “airworthiness directive” that would require Airbus to replace aluminium fasteners with tougher rivets. In a proposal to issue the directive, EASA said: “During an engineering review, it has been identified that six aluminium rivets... are not in compliance with the certification requirements. Fatigue analysis has shown that while structure limit load capability is still ensured, it may not support ultimate load.” This means that the rivets would be able to withstand loads during flights but in the event of an inflight emergency they could fail. EASA added that if not corrected the problem could cause the radome at the aircraft’s nose to come off should the aircraft rapidly losing cabin pressure. The loss of the radome could “adversely affect the structural integrity of the aeroplane”, it added. EASA said, “To address this unsafe condition Airbus developed a modification... with instructions to modify aeroplanes in service.”
Click here to see the original article>The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is now considering an “airworthiness directive” that would require Airbus to replace aluminium fasteners with tougher rivets. In a proposal to issue the directive, EASA said: “During an engineering review, it has been identified that six aluminium rivets... are not in compliance with the certification requirements. Fatigue analysis has shown that while structure limit load capability is still ensured, it may not support ultimate load.” This means that the rivets would be able to withstand loads during flights but in the event of an inflight emergency they could fail. EASA added that if not corrected the problem could cause the radome at the aircraft’s nose to come off should the aircraft rapidly losing cabin pressure. The loss of the radome could “adversely affect the structural integrity of the aeroplane”, it added. EASA said, “To address this unsafe condition Airbus developed a modification... with instructions to modify aeroplanes in service.”