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EASA extends A380 wing part checks to entire fleet

An Airbus A380 aircraft sits before a demonstration at the 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Zhuhai Airshow) in Zhuhai, southern coast of Guangdong province, China, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. (AP / Kin Cheung) An aerial view of the Airbus A380 of Korean Airlines, at left, with other aircrafts on the first day of the 49th Paris Air Show at le Bourget airport, east of Paris, Monday June 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
An Airbus A380 aircraft sits before a demonstration at the 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Zhuhai Airshow) in Zhuhai, southern coast of Guangdong province, China, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. (AP / Kin Cheung)

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Date: Wednesday Feb. 8, 2012 6:23 AM ET

BERLIN — Europe's air safety authority is calling for checks on the entire fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets for cracks on parts inside the wings -- extending a previous order to check nearly a third of the planes.

The European Aviation Safety Agency last month issued an airworthiness directive calling for "a detailed visual inspection" of the aircraft's so-called "wing rib feet" -- the metal brackets that connect the wing's ribs to its skin.

That order applied to the 20 planes that have flown the most. EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda said the agency on Wednesday would publish an updated directive extending the checks to the entire fleet of 68.

Fouda said that EASA is "working with Airbus on a long-term fix that should be ready by the summer."

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