E ASA AD No: 20 13 - 0 271

TE. CAP.0011 0 - 00 3 © 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 . : 20 13 - 0 271

Date: 14 Novem ber 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 o f 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]

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### Design Approval Holder’s Name : AIRBUS Type/Model designation(s) : A330 and A340 aeroplanes TCDS Number : EASA A.004, EASA A.015 F oreign AD : Not applicable Supersedure : This AD supersedes EASA AD 2007 - 0247R1 - E dated 07 September 2007 ,

including the correction dated 04 October 2007

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### 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 bea ring 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 ha s been determined that similar type of crack can develop on other aeroplane type s 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 si tuation, Airbus issued inspection Service Bulletins (SB) A330 - 57 - 3096, A340 - 57 - 4104 and A340 - 57 - 5009 to instruct repetitive inspection 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. Later, EASA issued ADE ASA AD No: 20 13 - 0 271

TE. CAP.0011 0 - 00 3 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 2 / 3 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA - Internet/Intranet. 2007 - 0247R1 - E , which supersede d EAD 2006 - 0364 - E, to:

- expand the applicability to all A330 and A340 aeroplane s , 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 utili s ation in service. EASA AD 2007 - 0247R1 - E was republished to correct a typographical error. Since the first crack finding and issuance of the inspection SBs and related ADs , six further cracks have been reported. For the reasons described above , t his AD, which supersedes EASA EAD 2007 - 0247 R1 - E and retain s its requirements, is issued to expand the applicability to the newly certified models A330 - 223F and A330 - 243F and to reduce the threshold further to t he risk assessment of recent in - service experience

. Effective Date: 28 November 2013 Required A ction(s) and Compliance Time(s) : Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously: (1) Before exceeding 42 months since aeroplane first flight , or since the last MLG support rib replacement , as applicable, or within 4 months after the effective date of this AD, whichever occurs later, and , thereafter , at interval s not to exceed the values specified in T able 1 of this AD , accomplish a detailed visual inspection of the LH and RH w ing MLG r ib 6 aft bearing lugs (forward and aft) to detect any cracks in acco rdance with the instructions of Airbus SB A330 - 57 - 3096 Revision 0 4 or SB A340 - 57 - 4104 Revis ion 0 3 or SB A340 - 57 - 5009 Revision 02 , as applicable to aeroplane types and models

. Table 1

– Intervals Aeroplane Model s Interval (whichever occurs first) F light C ycles F light H ours 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 W eight V ariant (WV) 27) 200 800 A340 - 313 ( only WV27 ) 200 400 A340 - 541, A340 - 542, A340 - 642, A340 - 643 100 500 (2) If , during any inspection as required by paragraph (1) of this AD, a crack is detected , before next flight, replace the crack ed MLG support rib in accordance with approved instructions from Airbus

. (3) I nspect ions and correct ive actions, accomplished before the effective date of this AD in accordance with the in structions of Airbus SB A330 - 57 - 3096 at original issue , or Revision 01 , or Revision 02 , or Revision 03 , or inE ASA AD No: 20 13 - 0 271

TE. CAP.0011 0 - 00 3 © European Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. 3 / 3 Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA - Internet/Intranet. accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A340 - 57 - 4104 at original issue , or Revision 01 , or Revision 02 , or in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A340 - 57 - 5009 at original issue , or Revision 01 , as applicable to aeroplane type, are acceptable to compl y with the initial requirements of paragraph s (1) and (2) of this AD. After the effective date of this AD, the repetitive inspections and applicable corrective action s as required by paragraph s (1) and (2) of this AD must be accomplished in accordance with the instructions of Airbus SB A330 - 57 - 3096 Revision 04 or SB A340 - 57 - 4104 Revision 0 3 or SB A340 - 57 - 5009 Revision 0 2 , as applicable

. (4) R eplacement of a MLG support rib on an aeroplane , as required by paragraph (2) of this AD , do es not constitute terminating action for the repetitive inspections as required by this AD for that aeroplane

. Ref. Public ations : A irbus SB A330 - 57 - 3096 at Original issue dated 05 December 2006, Revision 01 dated 18 April 2007, Revision 02 dated 13 August 2007, Revision 03 date d 24 October 2012 , Revision 04 dated 06 February 2013

. A irbus SB A340 - 57 - 4104 at Original issue dated 05 December 2006, Revision 01 dated 13 August 2007, Revision 0 2 date d 05 September 2007 , Revision 03 dated 24 October 2012

. A irbus SB A340 - 57 - 5009 at Original issue dated 05 December 2006, Revision 0 1 date d 13 August 2007 , Revision 02 dated 24 October 2012

. The use of later approved revisions of these documents i s 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 poste d on 24 September 2013 as PAD 13 - 15 0 for consultation until 2 2 October 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 conte nt of the requirements in this AD, please contact: Airbus

– Airworthiness Office

– E I AL; E - mail: airworthiness.A330 - A340@airbus.com

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