Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes
We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2009-15-17 for certain Airbus Model A330-200 and -300 series airplanes; and Model A340-200 and -300 series airplanes. AD 2009-15-17 required an inspection for damage to the protective treatments or any corrosion of all main landing gear (MLG) bogie beams, and application of protective treatments if no damage or corrosion was found. If any damage or corrosion was found, corrective action followed by the application of protective treatments was required. This new AD continues to require inspections for damage to the protective treatments or any corrosion of all MLG bogie beams, application of protective treatments, and corrective action if necessary. This new AD also requires modification of the MLG bogie beams, which terminates the repetitive inspections for any modified bogie beam. This new AD allows optional methods of compliance for certain actions, and adds Airbus Model A330-200 Freighter series airplanes to the applicability. This new AD revises the compliance times and adds a one-time inspection for airplanes that were inspected too early. This AD was prompted by reports of thin paint coats and paint degradation on enhanced main landing gear (MLG) bogie beams, as well as reports that some airplanes have been inspected too early and not re-inspected as needed. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct damage or corrosion of the MLG bogie beams, which could cause a runway excursion event, bogie beam detachment from the airplane, or MLG collapse, and could result in damage to the airplane and injury to the occupants.