Qantas To Check All A380s For Wing Cracks

MELBOURNE, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Qantas will inspect its entire fleet of Airbus A380 super jumbo jets for cracks on parts inside the wings. The airline said it would check all 12 of the aircraft it operates for structural damage following a directive from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). "Qantas will comply fully with EASA's directive," said Qantas spokeswoman Sophia Connelly who was quoted in the Australian Associated Press. The agency, last month, issued an airworthiness directive calling for "a detailed visual inspection" of the aircraft's so-called "wing rib feet" - the metal brackets that connect the wing's ribs to its skin. The initial order applied to the 20 planes flown the most but it has now been extended to the entire fleet of 68. Seven people were injured aboard a Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft last month when a flight from London to Singapore was hit by severe turbulence, caused by storms, in Indian airspace. That aircraft was grounded on Sunday after 36 hairline cracks were discovered on its wings. Qantas said the cracks were "not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas", but had been traced back to a manufacturing issue, and had no effect on flight safety. -- BERNAMA