U.S. aviation regulators on Friday ordered detailed rudder inspections and repairs, if necessary, of certain Airbus planes after the rudder of a Canadian passenger jet nearly fell off this month. The Federal Aviation Administration wants operators of the 112 European-made Airbus A310s and A300s registered to U.S. carriers to complete detailed rudder inspections within three months. The planes are flown primarily in the United States by cargo giant FedEx Corp. American Airlines also operates some A300s. The tests include visual checks and a tap test, which is an audio analysis. FedEx said it expected to complete inspections of its nearly 100 planes within the required time. "To date, we have seen no indication of any irregularities in our aircraft," the company said in a statement. Officials at American could not immediately be reached for comment. French aviation regulators, in concert with the world's largest commercial plane manufacturer, issued a similar directive last week covering nearly 400 planes, including those flown by American and FedEx. The inspections are usually performed every few years. --More 2226 Local Time 1926 GMT
