Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes
We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A330-243, A330-243F, A330-341, A330-342, and A330-343 airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports indicating that certain hinge sleeves on the cowl doors of the thrust reverser units (TRUs) were not heat treated. This AD requires replacing the sleeves of certain hinges on the cowl doors of the TRUs with new parts. We are issuing this AD to prevent, in the event of a fan-blade-off event due to high vibration, in-flight loss of TRU heavy components, which might damage airplane structure or control surfaces and consequently reduce controllability of the airplane.