Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes
We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2011-24-05 for certain Airbus Model A330-201, -202, -203, -223, -243, -301, -302, - 303, -321, -322, -323, -341, -342, and -343 airplanes, and Model A340- 200 and -300 series airplanes. AD 2011-24-05 required repetitive inspections for cracking of the hole(s) of the horizontal flange of the keel beam, and repair if necessary. This new AD requires changing the inspection compliance times, and, for certain airplanes, adding a one- time ultrasonic inspection for cracking at a certain fastener hole. This new AD also provides optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This AD was prompted by a determination that the rototest inspection and applicable corrective actions of a certain fastener hole were inadvertently omitted from the requirements in AD 2011-24-05. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking of the fastener holes, which could result in rupture of the keel beam, and consequent reduced structural integrity of the airplane.