Checking For Cracks
The European Airbus consortium said Friday it is requesting airlines that run A330 planes with Pratt & Whitney engines to check their fleets after cracks were discovered in some engine mounts.
Airbus said in a statement that a total of 82 of the A330 planes had Pratt & Whitney engines but not all are affected by the inspection request.
The consortium also said, however, that safety was "never compromised" by the flaws and that A330s powered by other engine makers were not affected.
Airbus is a consortium of European space group EADS and BAE Systems.
The worldwide inspection order went out after a crack was discovered in an engine mount during an inspection in the United States.
American authorities then notified officials in France, where the aircraft is manufactured.
The French government followed up by issuing a directive asking that all A330s with Pratt & Whitney engines be checked.
The crack that was found is in a nut which fastens a bolt at the rear of the aircraft's suspension holding the engine to the bottom of the wing.
That's according to Swissair spokesman Urs Peter Naef, who says the problem was discovered on another, unnamed airline, and not on Swissair.
That airline, and many others, are now checking their Airbus A330s to see if there are any engine mount problems.
The inspections forced Swissair to cancel some flights Friday.
The A330 is used by numerous airlines all over the world, including Malaysian Air, Sabena, Korean Air and Thai Airways.
In an interview with CBS News.com, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Paul Turk says the agency is "considering issuing an emergency directive," regarding the need to inspect the engine mounts in question.
Turk says such a directive "would give the force of law to the service bulletin that the manufacturer has already put out....Compliance would be necessary for an airplane to be airworthy."
U.S. Airways is the only airline in the United States, which uses the A330, Turk adds.
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