Airbus CEO Says Wing Cracks Show Risk of Technology Leaps
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The cracked wings of the Airbus A380 double-decker airliner are the result of new technologies mixed with insufficient design controls that are now causing spiraling repair costs, Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said.
“This is something that wasn’t on our radar screen,” Enders said of the period 10 years ago when aircraft designers sought to make A380 wings lighter by mixing carbon fiber and metal. “We thought we understood the properties of the materials and the interface between carbon fiber and metal and found out the wrong way we didn’t know everything.”