News / EFW defends work on A321Fs after 'middle-age' cracks appear

Freighter conversion company EFW has defended its work after multiple cracks found in similar locations on A321Fs operated by Lufthansa Cargo saw two of the aircraft grounded last week.  

EFW, responsible for their conversion, announced yesterday that the affected aircraft would return to operation after scheduled maintenance, which it said was “not related to the crack findings”. 

Single line cracks were found on a shear plate in the aircraft rear floor structures. Repairs will be complete within the next few days. 

EFW said this was “the first two A321P2F cases reported concerning such a finding”. 

CEO Jordi Boto said: “Our aircraft are safe, there is currently no indication that the damage is related to the P2F modification. 

“The detailed loads analyses have, meanwhile, shown that the A321 P2F certified mechanical loads are similar, or even lower, compared with the passenger aircraft results.” 

EFW added: “Such damage like in the Lufthansa Cargo aircraft is known and is nothing unusual for mid-age A321 aircraft.”  

It said it had standard repair schemes in place, “carried out as per structural repair manual as a routine”.

Lufthansa had only recently expanded its network of A321 freighters, announcing a fourth in December. Across the four, the carrier serves 18 destinations in the short- and medium-haul network with more than 32 weekly flights. 

It has not been made public which routes have been affected by half of Lufthansa’s A321 fleet being taken temporarily out of service. 

One of the affected aircraft, D-AEUI, had a round-trip flight scheduled for 10 January from Frankfurt, stopping at Madrid and Casablanca, which was cancelled. 

Meanwhile, Lufthansa told The Loadstar it was also experiencing weather-related difficulties. 

It said: “Due to the poor weather conditions throughout Germany, flight schedules are expected to be restricted on 17 and 18 January across the entire Lufthansa flight schedule, to and from Frankfurt and Munich.”