EASA AD No.: 2015-0120 

 

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EASA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE 

AD No.: 2015-0120 

Date: 26 June 2015 

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 1321/2014 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 1321/2014 

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): 

A330 and A340 aeroplanes

TCDS Numbers: EASA A.004, EASA A.015 

Foreign AD: Not applicable 

Supersedure: This AD supersedes EASA AD 2013-0271 dated 14 November 2013. 

ATA 57 Wings – Main Landing Gear Rib 6 Aft Bearing Lugs – Inspection / 

Replacement 

Manufacturer(s): Airbus (formerly Airbus Industrie)

Applicability: Airbus A330-201, A330-202, A330-203, A330-223, A330-223F, A330-243, 

A330-243F, A330-301, A330-302, A330-303, A330-321, A330-322, A330-323, 

A330-341, A330-342 and A330-343 aeroplanes, all manufacturer serial numbers 

(MSN). 

Airbus A340-211, A340-212, A340-213, A340-311, A340-312, A340-313, 

A340-541, A340-542, A340-642 and A340-643 aeroplanes, all MSN. 

Reason: During Main Landing Gear (MLG) lubrication, a crack was visually found in the 

MLG rib 6 aft bearing forward lug on one A330 in-service aeroplane. The crack 

had extended through the entire thickness of the forward lug at approximately the 

4 o’clock position (when looking forward). It has been determined that a similar 

type of crack can develop on other aeroplane types that are listed in the 

Applicability paragraph. 

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

the MLG attachment. 

To address this situation, Airbus issued inspection Service Bulletin (SB) 

A330-57-3096, SB A340-57-4104 and SB A340-57-5009 to provide instructions 

for repetitive inspections of the gear rib lugs. 

Prompted by these findings, EASA issued Emergency AD 2006-0364-E to require 

repetitive detailed visual inspections of the Left Hand (LH) and Right Hand (RH) 

wing MLG rib 6 aft bearing lugs. 
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Later, EASA issued AD 2007-0247-E, which superseded AD 2006-0364-E, to: 

- expand the Applicability to all A330 and A340 aeroplanes, because the 

interference fit bushes cannot be considered as a terminating action, owing to 

unknown root cause; and 

- add a second parameter quoted in flight hours (FH) to the inspection interval in 

order to reflect the aeroplane utilisation in service. 

EASA AD 2007-0247-E was revised to correct a typographical error. 

Since the first crack finding and issuance of the inspection SBs and related ADs, 

six further cracks were reported. 

Consequently, EASA issued AD 2013-0271, which retained the requirements of 

AD 2007-0247R1-E, which was superseded, and expanded the Applicability of 

the AD to the newly certified models A330-223F and A330-243F. That AD also 

reduced the inspection threshold(s) to reflect the updated risk assessment and 

in-service experience. 

Since this AD was issued, a new occurrence of crack finding was reported. 

Further analysis resulted in the need to reduce the threshold of the initial 

inspection. 

Prompted by this finding, Airbus issued SB A330-57-3096 Revision 06 to 

introduce a more restrictive initial inspection threshold and a grace period for 

aeroplanes which have already passed the new threshold. 

For the reasons described above, this AD partially retains the requirements of 

EASA AD 2013-0271, which is superseded, and introduces reduced initial 

inspection thresholds. 

Effective Date: 10 July 2015 

Required Action(s) 

and Compliance 

Time(s): 

Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously: 

(1) Initially, within the threshold defined in Table 1 of this AD, and, thereafter, at 

intervals not to exceed the values specified in Table 2 of this AD, accomplish 

a detailed visual inspection (DVI) of the LH and RH wing MLG rib 6 aft 

bearing lugs (forward and aft) to detect any cracks in accordance with the 

instructions of Airbus SB A330-57-3096 Revision 06 or SB A340-57-4104 

Revision 04 or SB A340-57-5009 Revision 03, as applicable to aeroplane 

type and model. 

Table 1 – Initial inspection 

A or B, whichever occurs later 

A Within 24 months or 2 000 flight cycles (FC), whichever occurs 

first since aeroplane first flight or since the last MLG support rib 

replacement, as applicable 

B Within 30 days after the effective date of this AD 
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Table 2 – Intervals

Aeroplane Models 

Interval 

(whichever occurs first) 

FC FH 

A330-201, A330-202, A330-203, 

A330-223, A330-243 300 1 500 

A330-223F, A330-243F 300 900 

A330-301, A330-302, A330-303, 

A330-321, A330-322, A330-323, 

A330-341, A330-342, A330-343 

300 900 

A340-211, A340-212, A340-213 200 800 

A340-311, A340-312, A340-313 

(except Weight Variant (WV) 27) 200 800 

A340-313 (only WV27) 200 400 

A340-541, A340-542, A340-642, 

A340-643 100 500 

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

detected, before next flight, contact Airbus for replacement instructions and 

replace the cracked MLG support rib accordingly. 

(3) Inspections, accomplished on an aeroplane before the effective date of this 

AD in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A330-57-3096 at 

Revision 05 or an earlier revision, or Airbus AOT A57L005-14 at Revision 01 

or an earlier revision, or Airbus SB A340-57-4104 Revision 03 or an earlier 

revision, or Airbus SB A340-57-5009 Revision 02 or an earlier revision, as 

applicable to aeroplane type, are acceptable to comply with the inspection 

requirements of paragraph (1) of this AD for that aeroplane. 

After the effective date of this AD, the inspections required by paragraph (1) 

of this AD must be accomplished in accordance with the instructions of Airbus 

SB A330-57-3096 Revision 06 (or later approved revisions) or SB 

A340-57-4104 Revision 04 (or later approved revisions) or SB 

A340-57-5009 Revision 03 (or later approved revisions), as applicable. 

(4) Replacement of a MLG support rib on an aeroplane does not constitute 

terminating action for the repetitive inspections as required by this AD for that 

aeroplane. 

Ref. Publications: Airbus SB A330-57-3096 original issue dated 05 December 2006, or Revision 01 

dated 18 April 2007, or Revision 02 dated 13 August 2007, or Revision 03 dated 

24 October 2012, or Revision 04 dated 06 February 2013, or Revision 05 dated 

17 October 2013, or Revision 06 dated 29 May 2015. 

Airbus SB A340-57-4104 original issue dated 05 December 2006, or Revision 01 

dated 13 August 2007, or Revision 02 dated 05 September 2007, or Revision 03 

dated 24 October 2012, or Revision 04 dated 17 October 2013. 

Airbus SB A340-57-5009 original issue dated 05 December 2006, or Revision 01 

dated 13 August 2007, or Revision 02 dated 24 October 2012, or Revision 03 

dated 17 October 2013. 

Airbus AOT A57L005-14 original issue dated 15 July 2014, or Revision 01 dated 

28 August 2014. 

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

compliance with the requirements of this AD. 
EASA AD No.: 2015-0120 

 

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

Methods of Compliance for this AD. 

2. Based on the required actions and the compliance time, EASA have decided 

to issue a Final AD with Request for Comments, postponing the public 

consultation process until after publication. 

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

Section, Certification 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 – Airworthiness Office – EIAL; 

E-mail: airworthiness.A330-A340@airbus.com.