Regulators EASA and the FAA have issued a notice of proposed rule-making for an Airworthiness Directive (AD) for inspection of 56 Airbus A320ceo and -neo family aircraft. A quality inspection by Airbus identified several non-conforming fastener drilling holes in the forward cargo door area. If undetected and unrepaired, this could lead to cracks.
EASA issued the NPRM on September 11, which was adopted by the FAA on October 5. In the document, the European regulator says: “Following a quality review on the final assembly line of the cargo door frame-to-fuselage skin panel assembly, several drillings were identified as deviating from manufacturing requirements, creating oversized holes. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to reduced structural integrity of the fuselage.”
Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.
