Grounded Until Investigation Is Complete

Two Northwest Airlines A-319 crew members are grounded, after they landed over the weekend -- not at their intended destination of Rapid City (SD), but at Ellsworth AFB, seven miles away.

AD NUMBER: 2004-12-17 MANUFACTURER: Boeing SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-12-17 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to certain Boeing Model 757-200 series airplanes, that requires repetitive inspections of the intercostals that back up the door stops and hinges at door 2 left and door 2 right for cracks, and corrective action, if necessary. This amendment also provides for an optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This action is necessary to prevent fatigue cracks from propagating in the intercostals, which could lead to the loss of a door in flight and subsequent rapid decompression. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition

AD NUMBER: 2004-12-19 MANUFACTURER: Airbus SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-12-19 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to certain Airbus Model A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes. This AD requires replacement of a certain transformer rectifier unit (TRU) with a certain new TRU. This action is necessary to prevent ignition of the input filter capacitors of the TRU in position 2 of the avionics compartment, which could potentially result in smoke in the cockpit. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.