LEAD: Qantas grounds A380 superjumbo over wing cracks

Feb 8, 2012, 4:12 GMT

Sydney - An A380 superjumbo jet was grounded after minor cracks were found on its wings, Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd said Wednesday.

It expected the Airbus plane to be back in service within a week and said the 36 hairline cracks to the wing rib feet - there are 2,000 on each wing - did not compromise air safety.

The A380 grounded in Sydney encountered severe turbulence over India while on a flight from London to Sydney last month and had to lay over in Singapore for a safety check.

The cracks in the metal brackets that connect a wing's ribs to its skin were found after Airbus asked Qantas for further checks on the plane when it returned to Sydney.

'This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue,' a spokeswoman said.

The cracks are not the same type of cracks as those found last month on some A380s in the global fleet.

Those cracks prompted the European Aviation Safety Agency to issue an airworthiness directive for airlines to check A380 wing brackets.

The Qantas spokeswoman said the wing bracket cracks had not been found on its A380s.

Airbus said last month that repairs for such cracking would take five days for each plane and involve replacing faulty wing brackets.

Qantas is awaiting advice from Airbus on whether inspections are needed on other aircraft.

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