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Composite Airframe Ground Damage Risk
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| Category: | Ground Operations | 
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| Content source: | SKYbrary | 
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| Content control: | SKYbrary |
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Description
Ramp accidents cost airlines significant amounts of money but these accidents only become a flight safety risk if they represent an airworthiness risk and are either undetected or unreported. The increasing use of composite materials in aircraft manufacturing may lead to increased risk because often, after being hit, a composite surface returns to its original shape and the damage underneath is not visible to the naked eye. A simple ‘tap’ test might not detect a delamination at an early stage or in specific areas.
The operational safety emphases are:
- Avoidance - reduce the risk of damage occurring.
- Correct Response to events which may have caused damage
- Education - explaining to personnel why it is important to report accidents even if there is no visible evidence of damage.
Reporting
Any impact, no matter how slight, should be immediately reported to the Pilot in Command (PIC) of the aircraft if present or the aircraft operator's line engineering agency at the airport. The location and nature of the impact must be recorded accurately.
Education
Operators and ramp handling agencies need to have robust education and response processes in place and properly documented. All personnel who work in close proximity to aircraft must:
- understand that composite structures may not have any visible signs of structural damage after even a minor impact and
- fully appreciate the critical importance of immediately reporting any impact to an appropriate person who is in a position to ensure that the aircraft does not depart for a flight without an assessment of the extent of any risk to flight safety by a competent and appropriately qualified specialist.
Related Articles
- Non Destructive Testing of Composite Materials in Aviation
- Minor Repair Responses to Composite Airframe Damage
Further reading
- Status of FAA’s Actions to Oversee the Safety of Composite Airplanes: US Government Accountability Office (GAO), September 2011.
- Visual Inspection Reliability For Composite Aircraft Structures; Lawrence Cook, Cranfield University, October 2009.
- CODAMEIN - Composite Damage Metrics and Inspection (high energy blunt impact threat), EASA, March 2012.
- CAP 562 - Leaflet 51-170 Inspection of Composite Structures