FAA Orders Inspections of Airbus A300s

The government said Friday it would order inspections of Airbus A300-600 aircraft that experience side-to-side movements similar to those of American Airlines Flight 587, which went down Nov. 12 in New York. All 260 people on board and five on the ground died.

The Federal Aviation Administration directive also would affect Airbus A310s, which have similar nonmetallic composite tails. In some cases, airplanes would be grounded until the inspections were made.

FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the directive won’t take effect until early April, but airlines would voluntarily do inspections in the interim.

The FAA announcement is its second since the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that it found previously undetected damage to the tail of an American Airlines Airbus that swayed while trying to land in May 1997 at West Palm Beach in Florida. Two people were injured in that incident.

Earlier in the week, the FAA said it would order ultrasound inspections of tail assemblies of Airbus planes that either hit turbulence or had sharp rudder movements. The airlines voluntarily agreed to the inspections, Dorr said.

American Airlines said two Airbus A300-600s experienced strong side-to-side movements. An ultrasound check of one plane found no problems, and results on the second craft are expected next week, the airline said.

One Federal Express plane and three foreign jets also had similar stresses, Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said. She said all the tails are being removed and inspected using ultrasound.