EASA AD No.: 2013-0230

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EASA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

AD No.: 2013-0230

Date: 24 September 2013

Note: This Airworthiness Directive (AD) is issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Regulation 

(EC) No 216/2008 on behalf of the European Community, its Member States and of the 

European third countries that participate in the activities of EASA under Article 66 of that 

Regulation.

This AD is issued in accordance with EU 748/2012, Part 21.A.3B. In accordance with EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.301, the 

continuing airworthiness of an aircraft shall be ensured by accomplishing any applicable ADs. Consequently, no person may operate an 

aircraft to which an AD applies, except in accordance with the requirements of that AD, unless otherwise specified by the Agency [EC 

2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.303] or agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry [EC 216/2008, Article 14(4) exemption].

Design Approval Holder’s Name:

AIRBUS

Type/Model designation(s):

A300 and A300-600 aeroplanes

TCDS Number: France No. 145

Foreign AD: Not applicable

Supersedure: None

ATA 57 Wings – Centre Wing Bottom Skin at Rib 1 – Inspection

Manufacturer(s): Airbus (formerly Airbus Industrie)

Applicability: Airbus A300 and A300-600 aeroplanes, all certified models, all Manufacturer 

Serial Numbers, except A300-600 aeroplanes that have incorporated Airbus 

modification 10599.

Reason: Several cases of corrosion on the lower wing root joint, located in the wing 

bottom skin inboard and outboard of the external lower surface splice, have 

been reported by operators.

This condition, if not detected and corrected, could affect the structural integrity 

of the airframe.

Prompted by these findings, DGAC France issued AD 1997-006-210 to require 

repetitive inspections to detect the presence of corrosion and prevent crack 

propagation at the wing bottom skin, inboard and outboard of the Rib 1 external 

lower surface splice, between Frame (FR) 40 and FR47.

DGAC France AD 1997-006-210R1 was issued to expand the choice of 

applicable Service Bulletins (SB). DGAC France AD F-1997-006-210R2 (EASA 

approval number 2005-2576) was issued to allow A300-600 operators to use

Revision 04 of Airbus SB A300-57-6047, converting flight cycles/”Fatigue 

rating” into flight cycles (FC) / flight hours (FH).

Subsequently, Airbus modification 10599 was developed to improve the 

corrosion behaviour of the area. This improvement allowed refining the 

inspection programme of the A300-600 aeroplane. For post-modification 10599 

A300-600 aeroplanes, the application of the Maintenance Review Board Report 

(MRBR) inspection tasks was deemed sufficient for maintaining an adequate 

level of safety on these aeroplanes.
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Consequently, EASA issued AD 2008-0208 (later revised), retaining the 

requirements of DGAC France AD F-1997-006-210R2, which was superseded, 

to require the use of Airbus SB A300-57-6047 Revision 05 for the inspections 

and to exclude post-modification 10599 A300-600 aeroplanes from the 

Applicability.

Since EASA AD 2008-0208R1 was issued, a fleet survey and updated Fatigue 

and Damage Tolerance analyses have been performed in order to substantiate 

the second A300-600 Extended Service Goal (ESG2) exercise. The results of 

these analyses determined that the threshold and interval must be reduced to 

allow timely detection of these cracks and the accomplishment of an applicable 

corrective action. 

For the reasons described above, this AD takes over and retains the 

requirements for A300 and A300-600 aeroplanes from EASA AD 2008-0208R1

(which has been revised, remaining applicable only to A310 aeroplanes) and 

requires accomplishment of the inspections within the new thresholds and 

intervals.

Effective Date: 08 October 2013

Required Action(s) 

and Compliance

Time(s):

Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously:

(1) Within 5 years since aeroplane first flight, and, thereafter, at intervals not to 

exceed 5 years, accomplish a detailed visual inspection (DVI) for corrosion 

of the Rib 1 external lower surface splice between FR40 and FR47, in 

accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300-57-0204 Revision 01, 

or SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06, as applicable to aeroplane model.

(2) If, during any DVI as required by paragraph (1) of this AD, any corrosion is 

found, before next flight, accomplish the applicable corrective actions in 

accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300-57-0204 Revision 01, 

or SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06, as applicable to aeroplane model.

(3) After corrective action as required by paragraph (2) of this AD, depending 

on the reworked depth, within the thresholds and intervals defined in, and 

in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300-57-0204 Revision 

01, or SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06, as applicable to aeroplane model, 

accomplish repetitive fatigue inspections to detect cracks.

(4) For A300-600 aeroplanes that, on the effective date of this AD, have 

already reached or exceeded the revised fatigue inspection thresholds or 

intervals as defined in Airbus SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06, the next 

inspection as required by paragraph (3) of this AD must be accomplished

within 500 FC or 1 050 FH after the effective date of this AD, without 

exceeding the thresholds or intervals defined in Airbus SB A300-57-6047 

Revision 05.

Note 1: When A300 aeroplanes are operated with an average flight time (AFT) 

different from those defined in Airbus SB A300-57-0204 Revision 01, the 

thresholds and intervals of inspections as required by this AD must be adjusted 

in accordance with the method described in Airworthiness Limitation Item (ALI) 

Document, Section B. Paragraph 7, which replaced the SSID Section 4,

Paragraph 4.4 mentioned in the SB A300-57-0204 Revision 01.

Note 2: To establish the AFT, take the accumulated FH (counted from the takeoff up to the landing) and divide by the number of accumulated FC. The result 

is the AFT per FC.

(5) If, during any inspection as required by paragraph (3) of this AD, cracks 

are found, before next flight, contact Airbus for approved repair instructions 

and accomplish those instructions accordingly.
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(6) Inspections and corrective actions, accomplished before the effective date 

of this AD, in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300-57-0204 

original issue, or SB A300-57-6047 original issue up to Revision 05, as 

applicable to aeroplane model, are acceptable to comply with the initial 

requirements of paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this AD. After the effective 

date of this AD, the repetitive inspections required by paragraphs (1) and 

(3), and the corrective actions required by paragraph (2) of this AD, must 

be accomplished in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB 

A300-57-0204 Revision 01, or SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06, as 

applicable to aeroplane model.

Ref. Publications: Airbus SB A300-57-0204 Revision 01 dated 02 April 1999.

Airbus SB A300-57-6047 Revision 06 dated 17 October 2011.

Airbus ALI Document Issue 4, approved 02 December 2008.

The use of later approved revisions of these documents is acceptable for 

compliance with the requirements of this AD.

Remarks: 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated, EASA can approve 

Alternative Methods of Compliance for this AD.

2. This AD was posted on 09 August 2013 as PAD 13-117 for consultation 

until 06 September 2013. No comments were received during the 

consultation period.

3. Enquiries regarding this AD should be referred to the Safety Information 

Section, Executive Directorate, EASA. E-mail: ADs@easa.europa.eu.

4. For any question concerning the technical content of the requirements in 

this AD, please contact:

AIRBUS SAS – EIAW (Airworthiness Office)

E-mail: continued.airworthiness-wb.external@airbus.com