Aircraft

The US FAA tomorrow will mandate that operators of A320-family aircraft perform a one-time inspection to determine if improper post-factory maintenance has been performed on the aircraft's wing flaps.

The action follows a 10 February European Aviation Safety Agency airworthiness directive (AD) issued after an operator during routine maintenance had discovered that a bearing had migrated out of position on a flap track pendulum assembly on an A321.

EASA says the problem "was probably due to methods used during in-service replacement of the bearing during maintenance, whereby the necessary special tools, fixtures and equipment were not used".

Officials say the faulty bearing placement could lead to the separation of the bearing/flap track assembly, resulting in the "detachment of the affected flap surface from the wing and consequent loss of control of the aircraft".

The FAA's version of the AD will give operators 600h from early May to perform an inspection of the flap track pendulum bearing or determine from records that the aircraft has not received maintenance on the affected part since being delivered.

Based on the experience, the FAA says Airbus had earlier removed instructions for replacing the bearing in the pendulum assembly from the A320 maintenance manuals, and has issued a service bulletin outlining how to conduct the flap inspections and perform any required follow-up procedures.