The whole subject of winglets and tip fences has been discussed to death over the years and there are still plenty of people who believe that their main function is marketing - like go-faster stripes. Regardless of the truth, I've never actually heard of them falling off before.So rather embarrassing for Airbus then that that is exactly what's been going on. At least three operators have suffered the experience. EASA is worried about the poor souls on the ground below and so if you've got A310s - especially -300s - you're going to have to do something about it. Repetitive inspections and/or replacement of them it turns out. Full details here.
on July 16, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply
The link to the full details doesn't go anywhere. It seems to be incompletely formed "http:///" :-(
on July 17, 2009 9:18 AM | Reply
Sorry, my fault. Should be OK now.
on July 17, 2009 10:15 AM | Reply
Yup, it's fixed thanks :-)