Airworthiness Directives; General Electric Company CF6-50, -80A1/A3, and -80C2A Series Turbofan Engines

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for General Electric Company (GE) CF6-50, -80A1/A3, and -80C2A series turbofan engines, installed on Airbus A300, A300-600, and A310 series airplanes. That AD currently requires initial and repetitive inspections and checks of the thrust reverser actuation systems. This AD requires revised inspection thresholds and intervals, and would require the same actions and additional inspections of the thrust reverser actuation system locking features. This AD results from refined safety analyses performed on the thrust reverser systems by GE and Airbus. We are issuing this AD to prevent inadvertent in-flight thrust reverser deployment, which can result in loss of control of the airplane.