widespread fatigue damage

EASA defines “widespread fatigue damage” in one regulation. The wording below is reproduced verbatim from the EASA Easy Access Rules, with a link to the paragraph it comes from.

“widespread fatigue damage” (WFD) means a simultaneous presence of cracks at multiple locations in the structure of an aeroplane that are of such size and number that the structure will no longer meet the fail-safe strength or residual strength used for certification of that structure;

Article 2 · Additional Airworthiness Specifications · Regulation (EU) 2015/640 · Easy Access Rules, 20 Mar 2026 revision · Read Article 2

Defined in the same article

airworthiness limitation section
baseline structure
corrosion prevention and control programme
damage tolerance evaluation
damage tolerance inspection
fatigue-critical baseline structure
fatigue-critical modified structure
fatigue-critical structure

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