Minor cracks in A380 wing...

[Dornier 335]

I SAID IT FOR YEARS. Plastics/Composites have NO PLACE in modern airliners especially in critical structures. Sadly someone will have to be killed before action is taken. IDIOTS.

For how many years have "plastic/composite" airplanes been flying now?

 

[Continental]

Apparently, more specialized people than me agree:

ALAEA issues A380 safety call

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) has issued a warning over cracks found in the wing ribs of Airbus A380s operated by Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

Speaking to local media, Steve Purvinas, secretary of ALAEA said: "We can't continue to gamble with people's lives and allow those aircraft to fly around and hope that they make it until their four-yearly inspection."
Airbus said "very small cracks" have been found on some "non-critical wing rib-skin attachments on a limited number of A380 aircraft".

The airframer added: "This is not a safety issue and aircraft performance is not affected. Any fix, if necessary, can be done during regular maintenance."
Both carriers said the cracks posed no threat to flight safety and have been repaired.

Rib-Skin...Thats funny...

 

[dirkdigler]

One day long time ago, having nothing better to do, I dropped in at one of our MX hangers to hang out. There was an airplane going through a heavy check of some sort and had everything stripped out. I wish I didn't decide to peek in to see what the inside of the belly looked like... They said a lot of corrosions and resultant cracks are the result of things like spilled soft drinks, etc. I don't know if they made that up but what I saw was not good...

 

[labbats]

Knowing about the cracks might have made this flight even more of a nail-biter.






'Severe' turbulence injures 7 on Qantas A380


Seven passengers were injured when a Qantas A380 encountered turbulence so severe that several fliers were lifted out of their seats and thrown in the ceiling, according eyewitness accounts from customers on the Saturday morning flight.The Qantas flight hit the "air pocket" over Indian air space on its way from London to Singapore, The Telegraph of London reports. The plane landed in Singapore about three hours later. Four people were hospitalized, but all have since been released, Qantas officials say.
Australia's ABC News reports passengers on the flight say the captain turned on the "fasten seatbelt" indicator only "a few seconds" before the turbulence. Speaking to the Telegraph, a Qantas spokesman described the turbulence as "severe."
Qantas spokeswoman Sophia Connolly acknowledges to The Associated Press that "the seat-belt sign had come on but some passengers were still moving back to their seats."
What followed was a harrowing scene, according to the various media accounts of the incident.
"It was pretty scary. We literally went up to the roof. Many people weren't in seat belts," one passenger says to ABC News.
Another passenger tells ABC News he saw injuries that included broken bones and cuts.
"I believe someone's head went through an overhead locker apparently, or cracked it or something," that passenger says to ABC News.
A passenger who would identify himself only as Simon from Perth tells The Sydney Morning Herald that – prior to the turbulence – "it was one of the smoothest flights we'd been on."
However, after the turbulence began, the Morning Herald writes "Simon said people began screaming and shouting as the plane was powerfully shaken up and down three times."
"First the plane went up, and we were pushed into our seats, then it went down and we went above our seats, then up again and we were pushed back down into our seats, this happened three times," Simon tells the paper.

 

[Mamma]

A mechanic chimes in and gives a little better explanation....

A rib foot is a small flange which is an integral part of the rib. The rib foot is bolted through a stringer, to the wing skin or cover. Usually with a countersunk swage lock (hydraulically tightened) fastener. There are dozens of rib feet along the top and bottom of each rib. This is established and widely used technology.
If in the fuel tank, difficult job but doable. Entry is through a “manhole cover” in the lower wing skin.
Structure covered in various layers of surface protection and sealant. Thousands of rib feet in total.
Repair depends upon where the cracks are, and which part of the rib foot is affected.
Do cracks originate from fastener or edge of part?
Disposition ranges from use as is, to scrap aircraft.
Probable fixes range from drilling crack stopper holes, adding washers, bolting on reinforcing plate or angle, or replacing the rib foot with a bolted on version.
Investigations would include determining whether cracks were load path dependent or fastener installation related.
Is the area in question as per drawing, or has been subject to a concession, or is out of spec?
Who designed the part, who manufactured the part, who inspected the part?
Airbus has implicated the use of 7449 Aluminium as a possible cause. Google it.
Apparently this alloy has superior weight and strength properties but is apparently susceptible to cracking due to stresses induced during fastener installation. This is not my field though.
My guess is that Airbus is correct in stating that this is not a safety issue (due to multiple load path redundancy), but will accelerate inspection and repair and will start using a different alloy.
Airbus will have to bear the cost unless it can be shown that a supplier has erred.
Don’t forget that the A380 wing has come through a major test of it’s structural survivability following the uncontained engine incident which started this whole thing.

 

[flythere]

A mechanic chimes in and gives a little better explanation....

A rib foot is a small flange which is an integral part of the rib. The rib foot is bolted through a stringer, to the wing skin or cover. Usually with a countersunk swage lock (hydraulically tightened) fastener. There are dozens of rib feet along the top and bottom of each rib. This is established and widely used technology.
If in the fuel tank, difficult job but doable. Entry is through a “manhole cover” in the lower wing skin.
Structure covered in various layers of surface protection and sealant. Thousands of rib feet in total.
Repair depends upon where the cracks are, and which part of the rib foot is affected.
Do cracks originate from fastener or edge of part?
Disposition ranges from use as is, to scrap aircraft.
Probable fixes range from drilling crack stopper holes, adding washers, bolting on reinforcing plate or angle, or replacing the rib foot with a bolted on version.
Investigations would include determining whether cracks were load path dependent or fastener installation related.
Is the area in question as per drawing, or has been subject to a concession, or is out of spec?
Who designed the part, who manufactured the part, who inspected the part?
Airbus has implicated the use of 7449 Aluminium as a possible cause. Google it.
Apparently this alloy has superior weight and strength properties but is apparently susceptible to cracking due to stresses induced during fastener installation. This is not my field though.
My guess is that Airbus is correct in stating that this is not a safety issue (due to multiple load path redundancy), but will accelerate inspection and repair and will start using a different alloy.
Airbus will have to bear the cost unless it can be shown that a supplier has erred.
Don’t forget that the A380 wing has come through a major test of it’s structural survivability following the uncontained engine incident which started this whole thing.

Check out the big brain on Brad!!!!

 

[UALjan15]

I SAID IT FOR YEARS. Plastics/Composites have NO PLACE in modern airliners especially in critical structures. Sadly someone will have to be killed before action is taken. IDIOTS.

Sooo....where in the article does it state that the cracking has anything to do with composite parts? While I am not an aero engineer, but if I understand correctly, neither Boeing or Airbus were making composite wing roots.

 

[SpaceShipEarth]

And I think Aluminum is not a composite nor a plastic.... People will use anything they don't understand to push an agenda ignorantly. Oh, and when I say I think, I really mean I know.

 

[Fubijaakr]

You've never heard of plastic aluminum. It was on the Star Trek movie when they stole the whales!

 

[GogglesPisano]

That was transparent aluminum.