Dubai: Qantas Airways suspended flights of its Airbus A380 fleet yesterday after engine failure triggered an emergency landing in Singapore, one of the most serious incidents for the world's largest passenger plane in three years of commercial flight.
One of the Airbus A380's four engines failed minutes after it had left Singapore for Sydney, terrifying passengers who said they heard a loud bang and saw parts of the engine fall off. Australian officials said no one on board the flight, which began in London and was carrying 459 people, was injured.
Qantas, which operates six A380s, said it was grounding the aircraft pending a full investigation. Three A380 flights scheduled for yesterday, one originating in Sydney and two in Los Angeles, have been stopped.
"We will suspend all A380 takeoffs until we are fully confident we have sufficient information about [flight] QF32," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said in Sydney.
Significant issue
Joyce said the plane was capable of flying on two engines. "This was a significant engine failure. We are not underestimating the significance of this issue. Grounding the A380 fleet is a significant issue for us."
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was leading the investigation into the incident, Joyce said. Passengers will stay in Singapore overnight, Qantas said, adding it will dispatch another plane for them early today.
Emirates to continue with A380
Dubai-based Emirates said it has no plans to ground its fleet of 13 A380s currently in operation, after a Qantas flight with more than 450 people on board made a dramatic forced landing in Singapore due to engine failure.
“All of our Emirates A380s are operating as scheduled. Emirates has 13 A380s in operation, powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines. The safety of our passengers and crew is always of paramount importance,” an Emirates spokesperson said in a statement sent to Gulf News.
German flag carrier Lufthansa also said it had no plans to ground its three A380 jets.
“Our planes are continuing to fly. We are running a normal operation,” company spokesman Thomas Jachnow told AFP, adding that two of the three planes were currently in the air.
Air France said it had no plans to ground its A380 fleet either, and added that its A380s were equipped with jet engines built by Engine Alliance, a consortium of Pratt and Wittney, General Electric and Safran, whereas Qantas was flying with Rolls Royce motors.
Qantas has already grounded all six of its Airbus superjumbos following Thursday's drama aboard the jet.
Initial media reports said the plane had crashed after an explosion over the Indonesian island of Batam, near Singapore. The reports sent the Australian carrier's shares lower but they later recovered.
With inputs from agencies
