Preventing Fan Cowl Door Loss
Fan cowl door loss events are still reported to Airbus. In all cases, the fan cowl doors were not latched closed and secured following a maintenance task.This article provides an update on the design and procedure improvements introduced on the Airbus fleet to prevent fan cowl door loss events.
Correct Escape Slides Maintenance for Successful Slides Deployment
It is of the outmost importance to make sure that escape slides’ maintenance is properly done so that they can deploy correctly when they are the most needed. This article recalls the importance of reporting scheduled and unscheduled slide deployment results to Airbus. It highlights the most common causes of unsuccessful slide deployments and provide recommendations to prevent them.
Lessons Learned About the Teach-in Function
This article has been updated in November 2025. It was initially published in January 2019.Emergency lights must illuminate when required for aircraft evacuations. If maintenance is not performed correctly, this can compromise the availability of the emergency lights.
Preventing Violent Door Opening due to Residual Cabin Pressure
Thousands of aircraft doors are opened daily, usually without incident. However, several events are reported to Airbus each year where residual cabin pressure caused a door to open violently, leading to serious injuries or aircraft damage. This article describes the available residual cabin pressure warnings, with their limitations. It recalls the recommendations for flight crew, cabin crew, and ground staff to take before opening an aircraft door and provides the safety precautions to take to avoid unintentional pressurization of the aircraft on ground.
Preventing Inadvertent Slide Deployments
The number of people injured when emergency escape slides are inadvertently deployed is low. Nevertheless, such events pose a threat to the safety of people in or around aircraft. They are also a cause of aircraft damage, and departure delays. This article looks at how Inadvertent Slide Deployments (ISDs) can be avoided, and presents a new solution available to prevent them.
Thrust Reverser Unlock In-flight
Thrust reverser partial deployment in-flight events have been reported to Airbus which have had both a maintenance and an operational contribution.This article describes a typical event, and provides a reminder of the recommended actions for the flight crew when an alert related to the thrust reversers is triggered at the gate or during taxi-out. It also provides maintenance recommendations to ensure correct thrust reverser de-activation task accomplishment.
High Load Event Reporting
All aircraft are designed, tested and certified to avoid the possibility of exceeding its structural strength. Operational thresholds or limits define the envelope for the load conditions in normal operations, and there are design margins to cope with abnormal or excessive loads on the aircraft if they are experienced in-flight or on the ground. The Pilot’s report of high load events in the logbook is the starting point to commence an evaluation of the event to determine if the abnormal load has affected the structure or systems of the aircraft. Early reporting enables efficient evaluation of the event by maintenance personnel and it can allow the aircraft to more rapidly return to service when the required maintenance tasks are completed.
A Recall on the Correct Use of the MEL
The dispatch under a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) item enables the dispatch of an aircraft in a safe and airworthy condition when certain system functions or equipment are temporarily unavailable or inoperative. This enables the aircraft to continue earning revenue without compromising the safety of the flight.However, what are the MEL principles and are there good practices to apply when dispatching an aircraft with an MEL item in the technical logbook?
Protecting Aircraft and Passengers from Cargo Fires
Cargo compartment linings are designed to provide an air-tight space, and are essential in protecting the aircraft and its occupants from fire and smoke.This article looks at how these composite components have come to play such an important role in Safety, and what can be done to make sure they stay in good condition.
Preventing Falls from Height
Falling from an aircraft can cause serious injuries to people.Specific safety equipment is installed on Airbus aircraft, and when used correctly, can prevent falls from height. This article describes the available safety equipment for Airbus aircraft and recalls the basic safety precautions that will help to avoid falling from height injuries to everyone on the aircraft.