Last week I mentioned some disturbing incidents with composite parts of Airbus aircraft failing due to delamination. Now, Glenn Reynolds notes that the French government has issued an emergency airworthiness directive on all A310 and A300 rudder assemblies.
This is a good start, but I’m not sure that visual inspections are going to be enough. Cavities in composite parts can form with no visual evidence of their existence, and only an ultrasound examination can locate them. If visual inspections aren’t enough, not even this move may be sufficient to negate the possible risk.
So far the Federal Aviation Administration has not followed suit.
