Qantas’ grounding of one A380 aircraft and Airbus’ subsequent plans to check all flying A380s might have made some flyers nervous, but one Australian expert says the move reflects “teething problems” and shouldn’t stress travellers.
Picture by Jimmy Harris
University of New South Wales senior lecturer Peter Marosszeky told the Australian Science Media Centre that panic over the cracks was illogical:
All new aircraft are likely to experience a few teething problems in their first few years of service. The checks of the fleet that have been ordered are a sensible step and will ensure that the airline operators have got the safest product flying that is possible.
The types of cracks they are reporting are not of great concern and it is unlikely they would progress to the level where they would become a danger. I would not be overly concerned as it is something that is happening at a controlled level and that aircraft engineers will have a handle on.
With three separate airlines running A380 services in Australia, everyone will be hoping that remains the case.
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