Sydney-bound Qantas jetliner returns to SIN

[Naim 6]

Luckily wing not badly damaged, otherwise, catastrophe.

[Cornelis Boersma 0]

Just flew OQA less then a week ago on QF 31 from SIN to LHR!

[alberttky 0]

Way too close. Could have punctured a fuel line to the engine.

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

And also looks like they lost hydraulic pressure? Very clearly seen that the gravity extension was used to lower down the gears.

[S M Tang 0]

That's a BIG chunk of the cowling that went missing. Whatever it is, those pilots can collect their salary this month knowing that they deserved every single cent although it may have been just a 'simple' single engine flame-out landing. Kudos to them!

 

If none of you guys saw this,

http://yfrog.com/0quh4dj

Credits to: @ulfw

Edited November 4, 2010 by SherM

[alberttky 0]

And also looks like they lost hydraulic pressure? Very clearly seen that the gravity extension was used to lower down the gears.

 

Gearboxes are attached to jet engines to provide mechanical power to a number of accessories, and one of them being the hydraulic pumps. So when the engine ceased, there would be no pressure to one of the hydraulic pumps.

[Isaac 0]

Way too close. Could have punctured a fuel line to the engine.

That's true ! Like the Air France Concorde ...

[Naim 6]

'Outsourcing of maintenance' issue crops up again. Inevitable.

 

 

===

 

Qantas engineers want full probe

20:24 AEST Thu Nov 4 2010

 

Qantas engineers want an investigation of the carrier's entire A380 fleet following a mid-air explosion on one of the superjumbos over Indonesia.

 

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) said there were serious concerns with the aircraft and it is calling for all six Qantas Airbus A380s to be examined.

 

Qantas has suspended all of its A380 flights around the world while the carrier investigates the cause of the blast in one of the plane's four engines shortly after departing Singapore for Sydney on Thursday.

 

It was forced to turn back after the engine "shut down" over the Indonesian island of Batam, raining debris onto the ground.

 

None of the 433 passengers or 26 crew was injured in a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore.

 

ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said safety was a growing concern for Qantas engineers with continued outsourcing of maintenance work.

 

"We know that the dramatic increase in the number of safety incidents involving Qantas jets coincides with an increase in the amount of work that is no longer carried out in-house," he said in a statement.

 

In the past 10 years, Qantas has shut down every in-house engine shop in Australia, he said, leading to a reduction in safety standards.

 

Heavy maintenance checks - which occur over the lifetime of the aircraft - on the A380s are carried out in Germany, while other maintenance has been increasingly outsourced to Singapore and Hong Kong, the association says.

 

"We have seen some pretty horrid results of maintenance from the overseas facilities - things that aren't reported in the press," he told AAP.

 

"A bigger (incident) we have seen of late is, last year they had three engines on a 747 that weren't bolted correctly to the wings and they flew ... this aircraft for a month or so after a maintenance check in Hong Kong."

 

And in April, a Qantas A380 superjumbo suffered two tyre blowouts on landing in Sydney, due to a problem with its brakes.

 

"We have approached Qantas to try to resolve (such issues) amicably but what we are forever finding is we get nothing in return other than lip service and they continue to tell us they are the world's safest airline while they ignore the concerns we have been raising."

 

Mr Purvinas also said just 24 licensed maintenance engineers worldwide were tasked with the job of maintaining the growing fleet of A380s, but this should be increased to at least 100 to ensure safety is not compromised.

 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8118844/qantas-engineers-want-full-probe

[Andi C 0]

A380

 

First To Fly : SQ

 

First To AOG : SQ

 

First To Push Airplane Into The Mud : SQ

 

First To Blow Tire : QF

 

First To Blow Engine : QF

[alberttky 0]

'Outsourcing of maintenance' issue crops up again. Inevitable.

 

 

===

 

Qantas engineers want full probe

20:24 AEST Thu Nov 4 2010

 

Qantas engineers want an investigation of the carrier's entire A380 fleet following a mid-air explosion on one of the superjumbos over Indonesia.

 

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) said there were serious concerns with the aircraft and it is calling for all six Qantas Airbus A380s to be examined.

 

Qantas has suspended all of its A380 flights around the world while the carrier investigates the cause of the blast in one of the plane's four engines shortly after departing Singapore for Sydney on Thursday.

 

It was forced to turn back after the engine "shut down" over the Indonesian island of Batam, raining debris onto the ground.

 

None of the 433 passengers or 26 crew was injured in a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore.

 

ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said safety was a growing concern for Qantas engineers with continued outsourcing of maintenance work.

 

"We know that the dramatic increase in the number of safety incidents involving Qantas jets coincides with an increase in the amount of work that is no longer carried out in-house," he said in a statement.

 

In the past 10 years, Qantas has shut down every in-house engine shop in Australia, he said, leading to a reduction in safety standards.

 

Heavy maintenance checks - which occur over the lifetime of the aircraft - on the A380s are carried out in Germany, while other maintenance has been increasingly outsourced to Singapore and Hong Kong, the association says.

 

"We have seen some pretty horrid results of maintenance from the overseas facilities - things that aren't reported in the press," he told AAP.

 

"A bigger (incident) we have seen of late is, last year they had three engines on a 747 that weren't bolted correctly to the wings and they flew ... this aircraft for a month or so after a maintenance check in Hong Kong."

 

And in April, a Qantas A380 superjumbo suffered two tyre blowouts on landing in Sydney, due to a problem with its brakes.

 

"We have approached Qantas to try to resolve (such issues) amicably but what we are forever finding is we get nothing in return other than lip service and they continue to tell us they are the world's safest airline while they ignore the concerns we have been raising."

 

Mr Purvinas also said just 24 licensed maintenance engineers worldwide were tasked with the job of maintaining the growing fleet of A380s, but this should be increased to at least 100 to ensure safety is not compromised.

 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8118844/qantas-engineers-want-full-probe

 

These engineers are merely using today's incident as an excuse to convey their message.

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Wonder if SIA will follow suit to ground its A380 fleet as they are using same Rolls Royce engine as QF

[alberttky 0]

Wonder if SIA will follow suit to ground its A380 fleet as they are using same Rolls Royce engine as QF

 

 

 

SIA says no plans to ground its A380 fleet

 

SINGAPORE : Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it has no plans to ground its current fleet of 10 Airbus A380-800 aircraft.

 

This comes after the Australian flag carrier, Qantas, grounded its fleet of A380s after one of its aircraft was forced to land in Singapore with engine trouble on Thursday morning.

 

In its statement on Thursday, SIA said its operations are continuing as normal.

 

SIA added that it is premature at this point to speculate on the cause of the incident, and it is awaiting advice from its aircraft and engine manufacturers as the investigation progresses.

 

In 2007, SIA was the first airline to fly the A380 superjumbo, which can carry more than 500 passengers.

 

Four other airlines currently fly the aircraft, including, Qantas, Emirates, Air France and Lufthansa.

 

This is not the first time that an A380 aircraft has encountered engine problems.

 

In September 2009, a Singapore-bound SIA A380 flight was forced to turn around mid-flight and head back to Paris after one of its four engines failed.

 

Separately, Singapore Changi Airport said it will reopen its Runway 2 later Thursday.

 

Airport authorities had to close Runway 2 earlier to facilitate an emergency landing for Qantas Flight QF32 which experiencing engine problem.

 

The A380 Qantas flight, bound for Sydney, Australia, departed Singapore Changi Airport at 9:56 am local time.

 

For technical reasons, the aircraft turned back to Changi and landed safely at 11:46 am.

 

Changi Airport Group's Airport Emergency Service (AES) responded with six fire vehicles, in accordance with standard operating procedure for such incidents.

 

In response to the pilot's request, checks were conducted on the aircraft by AES.

 

Once the checks were completed, passengers and crew began disembarking from the aircraft at Runway 2.

 

Buses were arranged to ferry them to the airport terminal.

 

Disembarkation of all 469 passengers and crew on board was completed by 1:40 pm.

 

Changi Airport Group said flights have continued to take off and land at Runway 1 and operations at Changi have, otherwise, not been affected. - CNA /ls

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1091329/1/.html

[Cornelis Boersma 0]

After some puzzling on ACARS I guess it must be like this:

 

Last flights:

 

VHOQA: SIN-SYD QF0032 (AOG SIN)

VHOQB: LAX-SYD QF0012 At present still inflight

VHOQC: SYD: Should be in SYD after previous QF0032

VHOQD: LAX: Should be in LAX after QF0093 from MEL

VHOQE: LAX: Should be in LAX after QF0011 from SYD

VHOQF: SYD-LAX QF0011 At present still inflight

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

OMG,What an eerie situation! Thank God the aircraft landed safely at SIN.

[alberttky 0]

Latest Development... SQ also grounded its A380!

 

From SIA Website:

 

Delays to A380 flights

 

04 November 2010

 

Our engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus have advised us to conduct precautionary technical checks on our A380 aircraft, following today's incident involving another operator’s A380.

 

Resulting from this development, Singapore Airlines will be delaying all flights operating our A380 aircraft.

 

We will keep affected customers updated and more information will be provided once it is available.

 

Is it me or the Captain's wing is upside down???

 

[Azman MN 1]

The ZRH-SIN SQ A380 was supposed to leave at around 6pm SIN time.. but looks like it is still sitting in ZRH.

[S M Tang 0]

According to BBC, SQ's A380 fleet will be delayed pending technical checks.

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

Gearboxes are attached to jet engines to provide mechanical power to a number of accessories, and one of them being the hydraulic pumps. So when the engine ceased, there would be no pressure to one of the hydraulic pumps.

 

On the A320, if you lose either one engine, the engine that is still running pressurises its own system and also provides pressure to the other system via a power transfer unit. I believe on the A380, there would be something similar to this or even more sophisticated and losing total hydraulic pressure on all systems just because of one engine being shut is probably something that i wouldn't believe just like that.

[flee 5]

Singapore Airlines is "delaying" all flights scheduled to be operated with its Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered Airbus A380s following an incident earlier today involving a serious engine failure on a Qantas aircraft.

 

"Our engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus have advised us to conduct precautionary technical checks on our A380 aircraft, following today's incident involving another operator's A380," says SIA.

 

"Resulting from this development, Singapore Airlines will be delaying all flights operating our A380 aircraft.

 

"We will keep affected customers updated and more information will be provided once it is available," adds the statement posted on the airline's website.

 

The Qantas A380 made an emergency landing at Singapore's Changi Airport earlier today after its number two Trent engine appeared to suffer an uncontained failure, resulting in damage to the adjacent wing structure. The Australian flag-carrier has subsequently grounded its A380 fleet.

 

Lufthansa is the only other current operator of Trent-powered A380s and says it is continuing operations as normal.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/04/349320/sia-delays-a380-flights-for-engine-checks.html

[alberttky 0]

On the A320, if you lose either one engine, the engine that is still running pressurises its own system and also provides pressure to the other system via a power transfer unit. I believe on the A380, there would be something similar to this or even more sophisticated and losing total hydraulic pressure on all systems just because of one engine being shut is probably something that i wouldn't believe just like that.

 

There won't be a lost of total hydraulic pressure on all system just because of one engine being shut otherwise the aircraft will not be flyable. Control surfaces on these jets are all hydraulically-powered.

[flee 5]

Repairs to this aircraft might be complicated. A hot, sharp object punctured the wing. It may be very costly to repair, especially if the structural bits are damaged.

 

I wonder if it will be Airbus, RR or the insurers who will be footing the bill. And what if the airframe is so costly to repair that it has to be written off?

Edited November 4, 2010 by flee

[alberttky 0]

Repairs to this aircraft might be complicated. A hot, sharp object punctured the carbon composite wing. It may be very costly to repair. I wonder if it will be Airbus, RR or the insurers who will be footing the bill. And what if the airframe is so costly to repair that it has to be written off?

 

Qantas will repair it at all cost. It will maintain their clean haul-loss record.

 

The QF1 incident in BKK where the Captain decided to put the 747 into the golf course? Qantas fixed the aircraft, even after their insurers advised them it'll be too expensive to repair.

[flee 5]

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines said it is transferring its passengers on Sydney-bound A380 flight SQ221 onto a Boeing 777 aircraft.

 

SQ221 was initially to be operated on one of SIA's A380 aircraft - and was scheduled to depart at 2035hrs.

 

The flight is now scheduled to depart at 2300hrs.

 

Earlier, SIA said it is delaying all flights operated on its Airbus A380 aircraft.

 

Its engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus has advised the carrier to conduct precautionary technical checks on its 10 A380 aircraft.

 

The move follows the emergency landing involving a Qantas A380 superjumbo earlier this morning.

 

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1091408/1/.html

[Denny Yen 0]

Previous incident in Sept involved RR RB211 engines of QF 747 in SFO, which was reported as "uncontained engine failure" as it "reached 30,000ft about 45mins after takeoff"

 

 

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/qantas-engine-explosion-followed-safety-warning-20100901-14nnn.html

[alberttky 0]

Previous incident in Sept involved RR RB211 engines of QF 747 in SFO, which was reported as "uncontained engine failure" as it "reached 30,000ft about 45mins after takeoff"

 

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/qantas-engine-explosion-followed-safety-warning-20100901-14nnn.html

 

And they didn't ground the 747 fleet!