France urges parts review after Airbus A380 engine blowout

French investigators have called for a review of the design and maintenance of titanium alloy engine parts to ensure they guard against the risks of metal fatigue following an engine blowout on an Airbus AIR.PA A380 exactly three years ago.

The BEA said a recovered fragment had shown tiny fatigue cracks in a titanium alloy called Ti-6-4 and urged regulators – the Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency – to carry out a review of design, manufacturing, maintenance and certification processes.

“Neither the manufacturer nor the certification authorities had anticipated this phenomenon in this alloy during the design of the engine,” the BEA said.

France’s BEA agency made the recommendation in a final report into the accident in which an Air France jet carrying more than 500 passengers lost the front section of one of its four engines while flying over Greenland, before landing safely in Canada.