What happened
On August 18, 2023, an Emirates Airbus A380-800, registration A6-EOM, was performing a commercial passenger flight from Dubai to Nice. While on approach to Nice-Côte d’Azur, approximately 15 km off the coast of Cap d’Antibes, the flight crew selected configuration 1. During this maneuver, the pilots reported hearing a muffled noise accompanied by slight vibrations. The aircraft continued its approach and landed safely without any cockpit warnings being activated.
Upon ground inspection, investigators discovered significant damage to the number 2 leading edge slat on the right-hand wing. The upper and lower skin of the trailing edge had torn across approximately two-thirds of the component, and portions of the internal honeycomb structure were missing.
The investigation
The BEA initially classified the event as an accident due to the potential impact on flight performance and the possibility of a mid-air collision with a drone or bird. However, examinations of the damaged slat under UV light revealed no evidence of an impact or bird strike. Furthermore, simulations conducted by Airbus demonstrated that the damage had no measurable effect on the aircraft's lift or flight characteristics.
During the investigation, it was noted that three other Airbus A380s operated by Singapore Airlines had experienced similar damage to leading edge slats within the following seven months. The BEA analyzed production records from the manufacturer, Sonaca, and found no deviations in the manufacturing process of the affected parts.
Findings
The investigation established that the damage was not caused by an external collision. Instead, examinations of the removed slats identified various types of bonding ruptures between the honeycomb core and the outer skin. The BEA concluded that pre-existing bonding defects between the upper and lower skin and the honeycomb core likely weakened the structure, allowing the trailing edge to fail when the airflow was modified during the configuration change.
Safety action
Airbus is currently investigating the root cause of these internal structural bonding defects. While inspections of the fleets of the involved operators found no similar damage, Airbus plans to issue service bulletins in January 2026. These bulletins will mandate repetitive inspections during A and C checks to detect potential cracks or delamination on the trailing edges of leading edge slats.