Transport Canada Issues Emergency AD for A220

DALLAS — Transport Canada issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) CF-2024-28 on August 1, 2024, affecting certain Airbus A220 aircraft. The directive comes in response to a potentially serious safety issue discovered during routine maintenance.

The AD applies to Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (formerly known as C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership and Bombardier Inc.) aircraft models BD-500-1A10 (A220-100) and BD-500-1A11 (A220-300), covering a range of serial numbers.

The safety concern arose when maintenance crews found a missing Pintle Fuse Pin in the Left Hand (LH) Main Landing Gear (MLG) of an A220 aircraft. This critical component, if missing or damaged, could lead to a significant redistribution of loads in the MLG assembly.

Such a condition could reduce the MLG's ability to withstand these loads, potentially resulting in a collapse during takeoff.

AD Actions

To address the urgent safety issue on the aforementioned A220 models, Transport Canada has mandated the following actions:

1. Within 24 flight cycles from the directive's effective date (August 3, 2024), operators must perform a Detailed Visual Inspection (DVI) of the MLG Pintle Housing Assembly.
2. The inspection aims to verify the presence and correct installation of the Pintle Fuse Pins.
3. If any pins are found to be incorrectly installed or missing, the aircraft must be grounded immediately.
4. Operators must then contact Airbus Canada for an approved solution before the aircraft can return to service.

The inspections and any necessary corrective actions should be carried out in accordance with Airbus Canada's Alert Operators Transmission A220-AOT-57-21-001 Rev. --, dated July 31, 2024, or later approved revisions.

The primary final assembly line for the Airbus A220 is located in Mirabel, Quebec, while the other location is in Mobile, Alabama. Two years ago, Airbus was only able to produce five A220s, but the Europan planemaker has pushed to increase that number to 14 aircraft per month, with 10 being produced at Mirabel and four at Mobile.

This Emergency AD focuses on the importance of regular maintenance checks and swift action in addressing potential safety issues in commercial aviation.

Airlines operating the affected Airbus A220 models are expected to comply with the directive promptly to ensure the continued safety of passengers and crew.