Transport Canada has released an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) mandating thorough visual inspections of the main landing gear (MLG) on Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft due to the potential absence of a fuse pin.
The directive was issued after maintenance checks revealed that a pintle fuse pin was missing from the left-hand main landing gear of an A220 aircraft. It applies to the Airbus A220-100 (Model BD-500-1A10) with serial numbers ranging from 50001 to 50065 and 50067 to 50076, as well as the -300 (Model BD-500-1A11) with serial numbers from 55001 to 55284, 55286, and 55289.
According to Transport Canada, if a pintle fuse pin was either missing or damaged, it could cause “a significant redistribution of loads in the MLG assembly and reduce the capability of the MLG assembly to withstand those loads, potentially resulting in the collapse of the MLG during takeoff.”
The emergency AD stipulates that within 24 flight cycles of the effective date of Aug. 3, maintenance personnel must carry out a detailed visual inspection of the pintle housing assembly to confirm the presence and proper installation of the pintle fuse pins. If a pintle fuse pin is found to be missing or improperly installed, Airbus Canada must be contacted for an approved resolution.
The Airbus A220 is manufactured in two locations: Mirabel, Que., and Mobile, Ala., with Mirabel serving as the main final assembly line.
In 2022, Airbus was producing a total of five A220s per month, but has been working towards ramping up production to 14 aircraft per month — 10 at Mirabel and four at Mobile.
In late July, the OEM confirmed that it hopes to achieve this goal by 2026.
My question is… how many aircraft showed this problem? Just one, or were they all affected. Nothing was mention that I could see, of additional issues how about A320’s? Were they also checked?