Airlines report cracks in Airbus wings

AIRBUS   SINGAPORE AIRLINES   QANTAS            

Singapore -  Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Qantas Airways said on Friday that minor cracks were discovered in the wing ribs of the Airbus A380s, but posed no threat to safety.

The Singaporean carrier has already completed repairs on the wing-rib feet, which help support the wings on the two aircrafts were the faults were found, Bloomberg reported.

"Cracks were found on a small number of wing rib feet on an Airbus A380 during inspections in the second half of last year," Nicholas Ionides, an SIA spokesman told Reuters.

"We have kept the relevant regulatory authorities fully informed and will be carrying out inspections and any necessary repairs on other A380s as they go in for routine checks."

Separately, Qantas said minor cracks were found on the wing ribs of the Qantas A380 being repaired in Singapore after one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines suffered a mid-air blowout in 2010.

Qantas said in a statement that investigations found the cracking was unrelated to the engine failure.

Airbus has since alerted operators and regulators of this issue. The faults are linked to a manufacturing issue and can be fixed during scheduled four-year maintenance checks, according to the company.

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