Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 Series Airplanes; and A340-541 and A340-642 Airplanes

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes; and A340-541 and A340-642 airplanes. This AD requires operators to revise the Airworthiness Limitations section of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness to incorporate new information. This information includes, for all affected airplanes, decreased life limit values for certain components; and for Model A330- 200 and -300 series airplanes, new inspections, compliance times, and new repetitive intervals to detect fatigue cracking, accidental damage, or corrosion in certain structures. This AD results from a revision to subsection 9-1 of the Airbus A330 and A340 Maintenance Planning Documents (MPD) for Life limits/Monitored parts, and subsection 9-2 of the Airbus A330 MPD for Airworthiness Limitations Items. We are issuing this AD to prevent fatigue cracking, damage, or corrosion, which could result in reduced structural integrity of these airplanes.