Qantas A380 landing: Airlines were warned in August over engine safety

[GoFlyKiteNow]

Qantas A380 landing: Airlines were warned in August over engine safety
Guardian.UK
• Two airlines ground fleets after emergency Qantas landing
• Europe's air safety watchdog issued safety alert in summer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/04/airbus-a380-qantas-singapore-engine?intcmp=239

It emerged tonight that in August Europe's air safety watchdog issued an alert about abnormal wear inside the British-made Rolls Royce engines used on the double decker planes, though experts said it was too early to tell if the two were connected.

Flight QF32 from London to Sydney had just taken off from a stopover in Singapore when the plane suffered what the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, described as a "significant engine failure".

The incident – by far the most serious safety scare involving the world's biggest airliner in its three years of service – is a particular worry for Rolls Royce, which makes the Trent 900 engines fitted to most A380s at its Derby factory. The company, which lost more than 5% of its share price today, said it was working with airlines to see what went wrong.

It refused to discuss the airworthiness directive issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency in August which warned that scrutiny of stripped Trent 900s had found that unusual wear on splines used to secure the turbines could lead to engine failure coupled with "oil migration and oil fire".

 

[johnny333]

SIA is very quick to clear the A380. Can do so in just a day or two


http://www.cnbc.com/id/40017622

Singapore Airlines Clears A380 Fleet for Service

Published: Thursday, 4 Nov 2010 | 10:25 PM ET
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By: Reuters



Singapore Airlines resumed flying its A380 fleet on Friday, lifting a grounding order imposed after a Qantas A380 engine failed inflight, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.

Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images
Singapore Airlines fleets are parked on the tarmac at the terminal of Changi International Airport in Singapore.

The Qantas engine failure, which forced the plane back to Singapore airport on Thursday, marks the biggest incident with the A380, the world's largest passenger plane which has been in service only since 2007. Qantas' A380 fleet remains grounded.

Singapore airlines said it had checked and cleared its entire fleet of 11 Airbus A380 aircraft for service, said a spokeswoman for the airline in Australia.

All 11 of Singapore Airlines' A380 aircraft had been inspected and were found be safe, Susan Bredow told Reuters.

"They have all been inspected in accordance with the requirements of Airbus and Rolls-Royce. That was done overnight and everyone is satisfied the aircraft are serviceable and will be back on their scheduled routes as soon as possible," she said.

Australia's Qantas Airways on Thursday grounded its six A380 aircraft, pending the outcome of investigations into the reasons for the failure of one of its four Rolls-Royce engines which appeared to break apart during the Sydney-bound flight.

British engine maker Rolls-Royce issued a statement urging operators of the aircraft to perform safety checks on its Trent 900 engines.

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One passenger aboard flight QF32 reported hearing a "massive bang". Qantas described it as a significant engine failure.

Photographs of the engine showed its outer, rear casing had been torn apart.

Passengers also reported that a second engine on the stricken Qantas aircraft failed to shut down once on the tarmac, sparking fears it could ignite spilling fuel from the failed engine.

Passengers said they were warned of the dangers of using any electronic device, as firefighters sprayed the aircraft which was leaking fuel from a hole in the wing.

"Despite all the lights being off, everything being turned off, there was a rumbling in the plane," passenger James Henderson told Australian radio.

"And the captain then came out and said, 'Oh look we are sorry. As you can probably gather, one of our engines won't turn off but we are now pouring water into it to stop it'."

Passenger Christopher Lee said: "Obviously in the back of your mind you're concerned about a very hot engine next to leaking fuel. Obviously you're in a state of anxiety."

A Qantas spokesperson could not confirm the passengers' report of a second engine problem.
Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

 

[singveld]

the poms are useless, those who are lucky to have bought the GE engine have much less problem than british made trent 900. their car industries were almost destroyed, and much of their mightly industrial machine. only fools in sia, bought the british made engine instead of US made, and only fools in sia bought french made airbus than boeing of USA.
USA is still best.

 

[GoFlyKiteNow]

the poms are useless, those who are lucky to have bought the GE engine have much less problem than british made trent 900. their car industries were almost destroyed, and much of their mightly industrial machine. only fools in sia, bought the british made engine instead of US made, and only fools in sia bought french made airbus than boeing of USA.
USA is still best.

Sometimes the choice of engine from a specific source is decided
by other factors such as willingness of mfr to part with some
know how , comprehensive training etc under various offset programs.

No doubt GE is the best engine power plant in the market.
Civil as well as Military aviation people love GE engines.

But RR is not that far off in quality too.