Several copies of theAirbus A380 in service have cracks in the internal structure of the wings and were repatriated in Toulouse to undergo repairsaccording to the newspaper The echoes.
“This temporary return to the fold is motivated by the need to carry out repairs on the wings of these giants of the air, some internal elements of which have microcracks (or cracks)“, can we read in the article of the economic newspaper. These microcracks could be the consequence of a phenomenon known as “hydrogen embrittlement” of certain aluminum parts. “With the formation of hydrogen bubbles favored by prolonged exposure to high heat, significant temperature variations and humidity“.
However, these cracks do not cause, according to specialists quoted by The echoes, no danger to flight safety, but they still require repairs. The aircraft manufacturer Airbus identified this problem a few years ago on its A380s – whose production was stopped and the last copy delivered in December 2021 to Emirates, which has a total of 120 super-jumbos. In this case, the problem of microcracks would be linked to the storage conditions of the A380s by Emirates: the planes were stored for long weeks in the desert during the Covid pandemic, the heat would have accelerated the microcracks.
