Airbus A380 Engine Explosion

Tests have uncovered oil leaks in three Rolls-Royce engines on Qantas' grounded Airbus A380s, the airline's CEO said Monday, as engineers tried to zero in on the cause of an engine failure on board one of the carrier's superjumbo jets last week.
Australia's national carrier grounded its six double-decker A380s, the world's newest and largest airliner, after an engine burst minutes into a flight from Singapore to Sydney last week, scattering debris over Indonesia's Batam island. The plane made a safe emergency landing in Singapore.

Engineers conducted eight hours of extensive checks on each engine over the weekend.
On Monday, CEO Alan Joyce said engineers have discovered oil leaks in the turbine area of three engines on three different A380s.

"The oil leaks were beyond normal tolerances," Joyce told reporters. "So Rolls-Royce and our engineers have looked at what we have gathered as an accepted level and they have passed that threshold."

"All of these engines are new engines on a new aircraft type," he added. "The engines are not performing to the parameters that you would expect with this."

Because of that, he said, all of the airline's A380s will be grounded for at least an additional 72 hours.

"We are not going to take any risks whatsoever," Joyce said. "We want to make sure we have a 100 percent safe operation."

All three affected engines have been removed from the planes for further testing, and will be replaced with spare engines the airline has on hand, Joyce said.

"As a consequence, it's now narrowing our focus on that issue," he said.

Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, the other airlines that fly A380s fitted with Rolls-Royce's Trent 900 engines, also briefly grounded their planes last week but resumed services after completing checks.

The Qantas engineers are working with Rolls-Royce, who manufactured and maintains the engines, as well as Airbus.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading an international investigation into the blowout on the A380, appealed for help from residents of Indonesia's Batam island to find a missing piece of a turbine disc.

The island was scattered with debris last Thursday when one of the A380's four engines failed minutes into a flight to Sydney, with 466 people aboard. The engine was quickly shut down and the plane returned to Singapore and safely made an emergency landing.

"The recovery of that disk could be crucial to a full understanding of the nature of the engine failure, and may have implications for the prevention of future similar occurrences," the bureau said in a statement.

It released a photograph of a jagged and bent piece of turbine disc from the Trent 900 engine and asked that anyone who might have found a similar piece should hand it to police.

It said one piece of the shattered engine that had been found on Batam was being sent to Britain for examination by Rolls-Royce engineers, under the supervision of bureau investigators. Extra experts were being sent from Australia to Singapore to examine other debris.

Rolls-Royce Group PLC, a London-based aerospace, power systems and defense company separate from the car manufacturer, has said the investigation is in its early stages and that it is too early to draw any conclusions.

John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and an expert on aircraft maintenance, said the photo showing the broken turbine disc indicates it was the disc that may have failed. The photo didn't show any signs of discoloration on the disc that would indicate overheating.

There are several reasons why a disc might fail, but they usually involve the metal used to make the disc or the manufacturing method, Goglia said. He cautioned that he was looking at one photo, which was not enough information to make a definitive judgment.
Qantas passengers stranded by the grounding of the A380s are expected to be flown to their destinations within 24 hours, Joyce said. The airline is adding flights from London and Los Angeles to help clear the backlog.

Joyce would not specify how much the airline has lost since the engine explosion, nor would he comment on whether Qantas plans to seek compensation from Rolls-Royce.
"We are working with Airbus and Rolls-Royce to fix this issue — that's our top priority and compensation talks will take place after the aircraft are back in the air," he said.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...two-a380s.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace...t/default.aspx

First couple of years passengers are Guinea Pigs

I have a friend from Australia who has been touring the US for the last three weeks.

His FB update last week was "looking forward to flying home on an A380". His update Friday said "looking forward to flying home on a 747". LOL

Last I heard he was stuck at LAX with a bunch of other Qantas passengers trying to find flights home. Poor bugger.

Moderato will not be impressed.

Originally Posted by Patrick

Moderato will not be impressed.

Not the slightest.

Originally Posted by LuvThatSam

Not the slightest.

Tough week for that guy.

Originally Posted by Patrick

Tough week for that guy.

Moderato's an aussie?

Originally Posted by Eddie Bimmer

Moderato's an aussie?

I thought that he lived in New Jersey?

Anyway, he has dealt with these A380 engine problems, then there was RT jet that flies too fast. Tough times.

Rolls-Royce, which makes the engine for Qantas' grounded Airbus A380 fleet, has identified "an incident specific to the Trent 900 engine" that may be related to its failure, the manufacturer said in a statement Monday.

The announcement came shortly after the CEO of Qantas Airways said its fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft will remain grounded for at least 72 more hours.

The planes will not return to service until the airline is "100 percent sure" about their safety, CEO Alan Joyce told reporters.

Oil leaks have been discovered in engines on three planes, and investigations continue, Joyce added. The leaks were beyond normal tolerances, he said.

The engines have been removed from the planes and are being examined by Rolls-Royce, Joyce added.

In a statement the engine manufacturer said: "Rolls-Royce has made progress in understanding the cause of the engine failure on the Trent 900 powered A380 Qantas flight QF32 on 4 November 2010. It is now clear this incident is specific to the Trent 900 engine."

"As a result, a series of checks and inspections has been agreed with Airbus, with operators of the Trent 900 powered A380 and with the airworthiness authorities."

Rolls Royce said it would issue a further update on November 12.

Last Thursday, a Qantas flight was forced to return to Singapore's Changi Airport shortly after takeoff, because the engine's covering, or cowling, tore off above the western Indonesian island of Batam. The Australia-bound flight was carrying 440 passengers and 26 crew members.

The grounding of Qantas's A380 fleet had temporarily stranded 500 passengers in Los Angeles, California, Qantas said Monday.

But the airline was scrambling to take care of customers -- putting them up in hotels, offering to pay for expenses and long-distance phone calls, and chartering relief flights to Australia.

At the news conference, Joyce said passengers would receive additional compensation, though that remained to be worked out.

The last backlog of passengers was expected to clear Los Angeles on Monday, Qantas said.

"Qantas did the right thing by grounding their fleet," aviation consultant Peter Goelz told CNN on Monday.

"All the carriers who fly the A-380 put their engines through a check, and it is disturbing that Qantas found three more engines that needed to be looked at. That's a total of four. This is a relatively, you know, young aircraft. These engines have probably less than 200,000 total hours, so it is an issue that we need to be concerned about."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapc...ex.html?hpt=T2

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...-incident.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...hic-trent.html

Can't they just find a software upgrade fix to it?

mw

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Can't they just find a software upgrade fix to it?

mw

...or just spray some WD-40 on it...

Originally Posted by Adesh

...or just spray some WD-40 on it...

Duct tape.

Rookies.

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

Duct tape.

Rookies.

To be honest, I think it's the fan belt...who you calling a rookie now!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you have more than one type of powerplant for any given airframe.

I flew a Delta Airbus from ATL to Philly the other day and even taxiing for take-off the plane was making some confidence-lowering noises. Loud banging noises as we taxied out to take off. I was happy the flight back was a 757.

Originally Posted by johnc_22

I flew a Delta Airbus from ATL to Philly the other day and even taxiing for take-off the plane was making some confidence-lowering noises. Loud banging noises as we taxied out to take off. I was happy the flight back was a 757.

Sounds similar to my dad's experiences. He flew on an Airbus to Germany several years ago and he said he just did not like how it flexed and creaked. So far I've never flown on an Airbus and I feel just fine about that...

Originally Posted by -Chelle-

I have a friend from Australia who has been touring the US for the last three weeks.

His FB update last week was "looking forward to flying home on an A380". His update Friday said "looking forward to flying home on a 747". LOL

Last I heard he was stuck at LAX with a bunch of other Qantas passengers trying to find flights home. Poor bugger.

"If it ain't Boeing I ain't going."

Originally Posted by Eddie Bimmer

Moderato's an pusssy?

fixed. I didn't highlight it though so MatWiz probably won't be able to figure out what got changed.
fixed

Originally Posted by johnc_22

I flew a Delta Airbus from ATL to Philly the other day and even taxiing for take-off the plane was making some confidence-lowering noises. Loud banging noises as we taxied out to take off. I was happy the flight back was a 757.

Going back and forth to MCI from LAX and SNA (fun outbound ride, the takeoff is INSANE) I've been on a few AB's and have to agree with you. The seats have been awesome so at least I knwo I'll be comfy as I come raining down in my best impression of a lawn dart.

Originally Posted by stylinexpat

First couple of years passengers are Guinea Pigs

+1. Goes for anything, whether it be plane, car, boat. etc.....

Maybe it was a HPFP

They need to take a look at the seventh Fetzer valve. It's been sticking. Probably the humidity.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

+1. Goes for anything, whether it be plane, car, boat. etc.....

Maybe it was a HPFP

I have been wanting to fly on that plane for some time now. I think I will wait off until Rolls Royce comments on this engine failure issue.

Originally Posted by stylinexpat

I have been wanting to fly on that plane for some time now. I think I will wait off until Rolls Royce comments on this engine failure issue.

I believe most airlines will specify which model flies which flights when you're on their sites booking your flights. Just find one that has the Engian Alliance engines. Engines are specified by the buyer so some of the AB planes are using RR, others EA.

Originally Posted by stylinexpat

I have been wanting to fly on that plane for some time now. I think I will wait off until Rolls Royce comments on this engine failure issue.

I know someone inside RR's failure analysis lab. Here's a heads up on what the failure will be attributed to; pilot error.

Isn't it always? Oh wait, the crew wasn't killed in a crash...errrmm...might have to come up with something else.

Originally Posted by DSXMachina

I know someone inside RR's failure analysis lab. Here's a heads up on what the failure will be atributed to; pilot error.

Isn't it always? Oh wait, the crew wasn't killed in a crash...errrmm...might have to come up with something else.

Much easier to blame it on a pilot and get rid of the pilot instead of the actual company that manufacturers the engines

Don't know if this is OK, seems harmless, on my longtime forum home (MB) one of the guys is a Mech.Eng. who builds devices to balance jet engines. His insight on the matter is extensive. Named Brian:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...d.php?t=287777

Here was his first post:

This is a fairly serious situation, and not related to that specific aircraft or incident.

When there is an uncontained failure of a jet engine, the root cause must be found. The problem is that the root cause is very rarely isolated to that specific engine. There is an issue with material strength or assembly practices that will potentially affect every engine of that specific model.

The investigation is rigorous and time consuming and it does not end until the final solution is determined.

When the problem occurred for GE on the CF6-80, it resulted in GE having to replace every single HPC 3-9 spool in the entire fleet, an endeavor that took nearly two years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in labor. The entire engine has to come all the way down to get that spool out.

No engine manufacturer ever wants to be on the tracks in front of this train. It's brutal.

oops