Qantas grounds entire A380 fleet following engine failure

Engine blow out on Airbus forced an emergency return to Singapore.

Travel Insurance News - 04/11/2010

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Australian airline Qantas has grounded all of its Airbus A380 airliners after one suffered an engine emergency shortly after taking off from Singapore. The plane, bound for Sydney, suffered an engine problem about 15 minutes after departing from Singapore. The plane made an emergency landing and none of the 459 people on board was injured.

Initial news reports, based on eyewitness accounts from the ground, had claimed a mid-air explosion was followed by an aircraft crashing on Indonesia’s Batam Island. The erroneous reports turned out to be the result of engine parts falling to the ground.

After the plane was safely back on the ground, one of the engines appeared to be missing parts of the rear cowling. Burn marks were also visible. Fire fighters were seen to be dousing at least one engine with liquid.

The airline said there was no explosion. Passengers, however, reported that they had heard several blasts and they had seen smoke and flames emitted from the engine. Parts of the broken engine apparently made holes in the wing, with some passengers stating that they watched some of the skin peel off the wing.

This is the most serious in-flight problem to hit the A380 since the type first went into service in 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The A380 is one of a new generation of ‘superjumbos’ and is a full-length double-decker that can carry more than 500 passengers.

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