Regulators order inspection of Boeing 757 aileron components

Boeing 757 operators have been ordered to inspect aileron components following an in-service report of an issue that limited a flight crew’s ability to move the flight-control surfaces. Airworthiness directives issued by the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency require operators to inspect 757 aileron trim actuator bearings and attachment lugs within 1,760 flight hours—roughly six months—from each directive’s July 12 effective date. Actuators with cracked lugs or bearings that do not rotate freely must be replaced immediately. The directives, issued in late June, are based on Boeing service information issued to operators in late March that recommended the inspections following the in-service incident, which Boeing shared with the regulator. “The FAA received a report indicating that a flight crew could not centre the ailerons with a left or right turn on the aileron trim control wheel during a flight control check,” the agency said. “Maintenance personnel found that the aileron trim actuator attachment lug had broken off of its support box assembly but was still attached to the aileron trim actuator … <br/>