Emirates A380 wing spar cracks are no safety issue - Airbus

Airbus says cracks in the wing spars of some of Emirates' older A380-800s are not a safety issue, and the ongoing safe operation of the A380 is not compromised. The OEM was responding to a report by Aviation Week in which Emirates President Tim Clark said Airbus was attending to the issue that delayed the A380s return to service but agreed that it was not presenting a safety issue so far. Clark said the airline currently has four A380s awaiting repairs which are taking weeks to complete. "They started seeing cracks appearing, so [the European Union Aviation Safety Agency] EASA got involved," Clark said. "As usual, some [aircraft] are worse than others. It is not a safety issue at the moment; we are nowhere near that. But we will have to have a regular inspection programme going forward." The affected areas are the top and bottom flanges of the outer rear spar (ORS) between ribs 33 and 49; the outer inner front spar (OIFS) between ribs 8 and 14; and the outer front spar between ribs 38 and 49. With 116 of the type, Emirates is the largest operator of the A380, of which it has 83 currently in service, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module.<br/>