Summary
The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A300-600 and A310 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require inspecting for certain serial numbers on elevators, and doing a detailed inspection, visual inspection with a low-angle light, and tap-test inspection of the upper and lower surfaces of the external skins on certain identified elevators for any damage (i.e., debonding of the graphite fiber reinforced plastic/Tedlar film protection, bulges, debonding of the honeycomb core to the carbon fiber reinforced plastic, abnormal surface reflections, and torn-out plies), and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD is prompted by reports of debonded skins on the elevators. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct debonding of the skins on the elevators, which could cause reduced structural integrity of an elevator and reduced controllability of the airplane.