EASA AD No.: 2012

- 0138

CAP.00110

- 001 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 1 / 3 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA

- Internet/Intranet. 

## EASA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

AD No

. : 2012

- 0138

Date: 26 July 2012

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 EC 1702/2003, Part 21A.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 ope rate 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

- 600 aeroplanes

TCDS Number: France No.145

F oreign AD: Not applicable

Supersedure: This AD supersedes DGAC France AD 94

- 208

- 169(B) R2 dated 0 8 October 1997

.



### ATA 57 Wings

– Front and Rear Spar L ower B oom at Rib 9

– Inspection

Manufacturer(s): Airbus (formerly Airbus Industrie)

Applicability: Airbus A300

- 600 aeroplanes , all certified models

, all manufacturer serial numbers, except aeroplanes on which Airbus modification 10161 has been embodied in production

.

Reason: F ull fatigue tests carried out by the manufacturer revealed crack initiation from the bolts holes at inboard and outboard of rib 9, on the front and rear spar bottom booms. S imilar cracks at the same area were reported by A300

- 600 aeroplane operators.

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

. To address this unsafe condition, DGAC France issued AD 94

- 208

- 169(B)R2 to require an ultrasonic inspection of holes inboard and outboard of rib 9 on the fron t and rear spar bottom booms on Left Hand and Right Hand wings.

Since that AD was issued, a fleet survey and updated Fatigue and Damage Tolerance analysi s have been performed in order to substantiate the second A300

- 600 Extended Service Goal (ESG2) exerci se. The results of these analyse s have shown that the risk for these aeroplanes is higher than initially determined and tha t, consequently, the inspection threshold and interval must be reduced to allow timely detection of cracks and the accomplishment of an applicable corrective action.
For the reasons explained above, this new AD retains the requirements of DGAC France AD 94

- 208

- 169(B)R2 , which is superseded, and requires the accomplishment instructions within the new thresholds an d intervals specifiedEASA AD No.: 2012

- 0138

CAP.00110

- 001 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 2 / 3 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA

- Internet/Intranet. i n Revision 04 of Airbus Service Bulletin ( SB ) A300

- 57

- 6037

.

Effective Date: 09 August 2012

Required A ction(s) and Compliance Time(s) : Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously:
(1) Within the threshold defined in Table 1 of this AD, as applicable, and thereafter at intervals not to exceed the compliance time(s) indicated in Table 2 of this AD, as applicable, depending on aeroplane utilization, accomplish an ultrasonic inspection of the lower boom of the front and rear spar inboard and o utboard of rib 9 in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6037 Revision 04.

Table 1: Inspection thresholds, w hichever occurs later , A or B:

Operations ( s ee Note) A : w hichever occurs first since

aeroplane first flight or since aeroplane modification in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6039 ( at any revision ) , as applicable B : Whichever occurs first after the effective date of this AD

Normal range 14 100 Flight Cycles (FC) or

30 400 Flight Hours (FH) 1 600 FC or 3 400 FH

Short range 15 200 FC or 22 800 FH 1 700 FC or 2 500 FH

Note: The short range is applicable for aeroplanes with an average flight time lower than 1,5 FH, and the normal range is applicable for aeroplanes with an average flight time equal or higher than 1,5 FH.

Table 2: Inspection intervals

Operations Compliance time, whichever occurs first

Normal range 3 900 FC or 8 400 FH
Short range 4 200 FC or 6 300 FH

(2) If, during any inspection as required by paragraph (1) of this AD, discrepancies are detected , before next flight, accomplish the applicable corrective actions in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6037 Revision 04.
(3) Corre ctive actions , as required by paragraph (2 ) of this A D, do not constitute terminating action for the repetitive inspection s as r equired by paragraph (1) of this AD.
(4) Inspections and corrective actions, accomplished before the effective date of this AD i n accordance with Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6037 at original issue or Revision 01, or Revision 0 2, or Revision 0 3 are acceptable to comply with the initial requirements of paragraph (1) of this AD. After the effective date of this AD, all repetitive inspection s and corrective actions must be accomplished in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6037 Revision 0 4.

Ref. Public ations: Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6037 Original issue dated 01 August 1994, or Revision 1 dated 31 August 1995

, or Revision 2 dated 9 January 2001

, or Revision 3 dated 11 January 2002

, or Revision 4 dated 24 February 2011.

Airbus SB A300

- 57

- 6039 Original issue dated 01 August 1994, or Revision 1 dated 26 October 2011.

The use of la ter approved revisions of these documents is acceptable for compliance with the requirements of this AD

.EASA AD No.: 2012

- 0138

CAP.00110

- 001 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 3 / 3 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA

- Internet/Intranet. Remarks: 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated

, EASA can approve Alternative Methods of Compliance for this AD.

2. This AD was posted on 14 May 2012 as PAD 12

- 044 for consultation until 11 June 2012. No comments were received during the consultation period.

3. Enquiries regarding this A D should be referred to the Safety Information Section, Executive Directorate , EASA. E

- mail : ADs@easa.europa.eu

. 4. For any question concerning the technical conte nt of the requirements in this AD, please contact: AIRBUS SAS

– E I AW (Airworthiness Office), Telephone: + 33 (0)5 6118

- 4139, Fax: + 33 (0)5 6193

- 4451.