Some A380s grounded amid emergency inspections for wing spar cracks

A number of Airbus A380 superjumbos around the world are set to be grounded for emergency inspections after Europe’s air safety regulator detected cracks in an internal part of the plane’s wing.

Qantas has one A380 that will require inspection before it can be cleared again for flight following the directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

“It has been determined that the cracks found on certain aeroplanes could reduce the structural integrity of the wing,” the agency wrote in its emergency airworthiness directive.

“To address this potential unsafe condition, Airbus determined that an additional special detailed inspection has to be accomplished.”

The safety agency requires operators of the affected A380s, identified by their serial numbers, to perform detailed inspections within strict compliance deadlines before the planes can continue flying.

A380s are the world’s biggest passenger planes. Their wings have front and rear spars (essentially the lengthwise metal bar of the wing) as well as mid-spars. Inspecting the metal would require engineers to gain entry inside the wing, through the fuel tank, to inspect it, an industry source said.

The affected Qantas plane, with the registration VH-OQI, flew on March 8 from London Heathrow to Dresden, Germany, where it has remained since, according to global flight tracker FlightAware.

A Qantas spokesman said the plane was in heavy maintenance, and there was “no impact to Qantas flights” from the airworthiness directive.

“The aircraft was already in scheduled maintenance and we will comply with any additional requirements as a result of this airworthiness directive,” the spokesman said.

Qantas operates 10 A380s, of which nine are listed in service. Dubai-based Emirates – which is Qantas’ code-share partner on some flights to Europe – has a fleet of 116 A380s, of which 97 are in service, according to the Planespotters website.

The safety agency identified two groups of A380s: one group required inspection before the next flight and a second group “within 25 flight cycles”, which the affected Qantas plane falls under.

Airbus said an earlier airworthiness directive instructed airlines to inspect the A380s’ mid-spars but more specific findings have prompted the plane manufacturer to inform the safety agency and recommend inspections on the affected planes.

Five aircraft require immediate inspection, Airbus said. Depending on the inspection results, Airbus will assess with the safety agency whether repairs are needed.

The news of the emergency inspections comes amid reports that Qantas is eyeing a replacement for its A380s, which could be either Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s.

Qantas’ A380s, which are popular with passengers for their roomier cabins, have had other issues in recent times, including a wing slat which peeled loose on a flight to Los Angeles in December.

In 2023, Airbus also announced it was inspecting A380s for wing-spar cracking, an issue Emirates had reported finding, particularly in planes that had been stored during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority backed the European agency’s move and published an urgent airworthiness directive for local airlines.

“All European Emergency Airworthiness Directives automatically apply to all Australian registered aircraft and we also distributed the directive to industry today,” CASA said in a statement.

One Australian expert with direct knowledge of the situation described the detected spar cracks as “serious enough if they’ve brought out an emergency airworthiness directive.

“Unfortunately for the Airbus A380, they’ve suddenly had quite a few wing-cracking issues.”

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