Airbus Pilots: Your Landing Gear Tires Aren't as Wide as We Thought
Published Date: 2/11/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The FAA wants all Airbus A321 planes to update their flight manuals because the main landing gear tire width was recorded wrong, which could mess with flight performance. This fix involves adding new performance data from the European safety agency to keep flights safe. Airlines need to comment by March 28, 2025, and while this update is important, it mainly means paperwork changes, not big costs or downtime.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
AFM update to fix tire-width data
If you operate affected Airbus A321 airplanes, you must revise the airplane flight manual (AFM) to incorporate a complementary performance data file (CPDF) update per European Union Aviation Safety Agency AD 2024-0151. This change corrects an erroneous main landing gear (MLG) tire-width value used in performance calculations to avoid wrong takeoff and accelerate-stop distances that could possibly lead to runway excursions.
Estimated operator cost: $85 per airplane
The FAA estimates this AD would affect 742 U.S.-registered A321 airplanes and would require about 1 work-hour per airplane at $85 per airplane (no parts), for a total estimated cost to U.S. operators of $63,070. The rule incorporates EASA AD 2024-0151 by reference and requires compliance with that AD's actions.
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