Aviation News

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it has temporary removed some Airbus A380s from operation while it checks for wing cracks and is using Boeing 777 planes instead.

Flights affected by the change will include SQ246 from Singapore to Zurich and SQ345 from Zurich to Singapore on January 24, 25, and 26. There is no change to scheduled departure and arrival times, the airline said in a statement on its website today.

The temporary removals come after a series of cracks were found on a part in the wings of Airbus double-decker A380s, leading the European Aviation Safety Agency to issue a directive requiring that 20 A380s, or almost one-third of the world A380 fleet, be inspected within six weeks. Singapore Airlines had six planes that required checking within four days.

“The safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we will ensure that we take whatever action is needed for the continued safe operation of our Airbus A380 fleet,” the airline said in the statement.

The carrier said it would waive administrator fees for rebooking or re-routing for travel on those flights.

The urgency of checks is linked to the number of cycles, or takeoffs and landings, performed by a given aircraft. Singapore was the first airline to operate A380s, followed closely by Emirates, which is the world’s largest operator of A380s.

Serious Fractures

EASA ordered the checks after the discovery of cracks in one wing led to detection of more serious fractures in other planes.

“This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity” of the plane, the safety organization said in the airworthiness directive on Jan. 21. “The new form of cracking is more significant.”

Dubai-based Emirates plans to comply fully with the directive and had examined two planes as of Friday, a spokeswoman said. The directive won’t affect schedules at the closely held carrier, she said, declining to specify how many of its A380s are impacted by the instructions.

source: http://www.businessweek.com

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Emirates Airline said it is inspecting its Airbus A380s after European safety officials ordered airlines to check for wing cracks on the planes.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered the inspections after the discovery of cracks in one plane’s wing led to detection of more serious fractures in other planes. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the safety organization said.

Carriers with jets that have accumulated more than 1,300 takeoffs and landings must make the inspections, while heavily used aircraft that have accumulated more than 1,800 trips need to be checked within four days. No planes have been grounded but the inspections must be carried out within six weeks for most of the 22 aircraft placed on a check-up list.

Emirates is the largest operator of A380s with 20 aircraft. An airline spokesman declined to comment on how many were placed on the list.

While the examinations are expected to take each jet out of service for about 24 hours, the airline said service would not be disrupted as it complies with the directive.

“We have inspected one aircraft and currently have another aircraft under inspection. The directive poses no impact on Emirates operations,” the Emirates spokesperson said. “The aircraft remain fully airworthy and pose no risk to flight safety as affirmed by EASA and Airbus. The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”

Airbus has said the cracks were found on a number of “non-critical” brackets inside the wings of two aircraft during routine two-year inspections, after similar flaws showed up in five planes earlier this month.

source: http://www.thenational.ae/

Airline Diverts Aircraft During Solar Storm

Our planet is having an exciting few days. After being hit by a coronal mass ejection (CME) on Sunday, the sun unleashed another Earth-directed flare and CME, which also hit the magnetosphere on Tuesday at around 10 a.m. EST.

At time of writing, the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center announced that our planet was undergoing a low-level (G1) geomagnetic storm. Aurorae are now likely at high latitudes.

Geomagnetic storms can be responsible for communications blackouts and power grid surges on the ground. In response to the potential risk, Delta Airlines have diverted some of its aircraft away from polar routes.

“We are undergoing a series of solar bursts in the sky that are impacting the northern side of the world,” said Delta spokesman Anthony Black on Tuesday.

“It can impact your ability to communicate,” he said. “So, basically, the polar routes are being flown further south than normal.”

It is believed the disruption will only impact “a handful” of flights, adding 15 minutes to journey times. Routes between Detroit and Asia are affected.

In addition to Delta, United Airlines reported on Monday that one flight had to be diverted due to an earlier storm, but there are no diversions in place for the current storm. American Airlines told Reuters that none of their routes have been affected, but they were monitoring space weather conditions.

The concern for aircraft is not necessarily solar radiation, it is the secondary effects of geomagnetic storms that can pose an acute problem.

The advisory states that in this case “passengers and crew in high-flying aircraft at high latitudes may be exposed to radiation risk.” Although the decision to divert aircraft away from high-latitude regions hinge on communication concerns, there may be long-term health implications for air crews frequently flying at high altitudes during solar storms.

Solar activity can cause dynamic changes to the Earth’s upper atmosphere, and during geomagnetic storms, ground-to-air communications can become unpredictable. It is therefore not surprising that some airlines will choose to take precautionary measures to avoid losing contact with their aircraft.

As the current period of intense solar activity continues toward this solar cycle’s maximum in 2013, we can expect more precautions like this being taken.

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Airbus A380

Engineers inspecting Airbus A380 aircraft for cracks on a part inside the wings have found similar flaws on at least one aircraft, industry sources said on Tuesday.

European safety authorities ordered urgent inspections on just under a third of the superjumbo fleet last week after two types of cracks were discovered on a bracket inside the wings of the world’s largest jetliner.

Cracks have been found inside the 9100-square-foot wing of at least one of the superjumbos examined under last week’s directive, industry sources said.

They also said cracks on another part of the wing were discovered two years ago. The problem was documented at the time but attention has not focused on that incident until now.

Airbus insisted on Tuesday this was a different issue from the latest flaws and had been resolved. European safety inspectors reacted to the earlier problem by ordering checks in October 2010, a month before an engine blowout severely damaged a Qantas A380 and triggered global headlines.

It was during $US130 million repairs – lasting more than a year – to that plane in Singapore that the latest type of crack was discovered. This in turn has led to the discovery of another and potentially more significant type on the same part.

Airbus and safety authorities are stressing the 525-seat plane is safe to fly as engineers check wings for more tiny cracks in a type of wing bracket known as rib feet.

Constant evaluation

The checks affect some 20 aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines, Dubai’s Emirates and Air France, making up just under a third of the current A380 fleet.

Airlines have until Friday to complete a first phase of tests after which Airbus or European safety authorities are expected to give an update on any new findings.

Airbus declined to comment on any interim results while airlines carry out checks under the timetable established by regulators.

But a spokesman said recent events showed the industry’s process of continuous evaluation, designed to catch and repair any faults before they become a hazard, was working smoothly.

“We have clear evidence that the airworthiness process is working,” a spokesman for the EADS subsidiary said.

“An issue has been found, we reported it, we made a recommendation to our customers, EASA made it mandatory and the and the inspection and fix if necessary are both under way”.

Both Airbus and Boeing are subject to a stringent safety regime that involves a continuous process of inspection and repair, governed by airworthiness directives from EASA or the US Federal Aviation Administration and usually both.

In practice the directives frequently formalise actions already recommended by the manufacturers’ service bulletins.

Safety experts can chart the number of directives to tell whether an aircraft is affected by more glitches than normal. A new aircraft will tend to develop more directives as a result of teething problems and an older type of aircraft will attract extra attention due to metal fatigue, with a plateau in between.

An EASA spokesman said the A380 was producing fewer safety issues than a normal aircraft of its age.

Airbus is however keen to avoid any further embarrassment and to allay concerns over its flagship aircraft. The UK-designed and -manufactured wings are the largest ever developed for a civilian passenger jet.

The A380 was developed in France, Germany, Britain and Spain at an estimated cost of 12 billion euro to compete with the Boeing 747 and establish Airbus as a challenger at the top end of the market but has hit a series of production delays.

Airbus has sold 253 of the aircraft and 68 are in service.

source: smh.com.au

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