Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes

Abstract

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus SAS Model A319-153N airplanes; Model A320-251N, -252N, and -271N airplanes; and Model A321-251NX, -252NX, -271NX and -272NX airplanes. This AD was prompted by an Airbus supplier identifying a quality issue in production, which could result in potential deviations from the specified thickness of various fuselage panels. This AD requires, for certain airplanes, doing a "local thickness mapping," doing applicable additional instructions, a general visual inspection (GVI) of certain forward fuselage panels, a full panel thickness measurement, and applicable corrective actions. This AD also requires, for all airplanes, a dispatch restriction from using certain master minimum equipment list (MMEL) items, a prohibition to use certain structural repair manual (SRM) tasks. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.