Airbus jets face rudder probe

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Long Beach Press Telegram

Airbus jets face rudder probe

U.S. airlines must inspect parts after scare.
By Leslie Miller
Associated Press

Friday, March 25, 2005 - WASHINGTON — U.S. airlines will be ordered to inspect the rudders of certain Airbus jets following an incident in which most of the rudder fell off an A310 in flight, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.

The FAA directive, to be issued Monday, affects A310s and A300-600s. American Airlines and FedEx, the only U.S. airlines that fly those models, have a combined 112 of those planes.

A plane operated by Canadian-based Air Transat lost nearly all of the rudder the vertical moving part at the back of the tail fin soon after leaving Cuba for Quebec on March 6. The pilot was able to control the aircraft and returned to Varadero, Cuba. None of the 270 passengers and crew was injured.

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