Qantas grounds giant A380s after emergency landing
Reuters – Technicians look at the damaged engine of Qantas Airways A380 passenger plane QF32 after it was forced …
By Harry Suhartono and Sanjeev Miglani Harry Suhartono And Sanjeev Miglani – 17 mins ago
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Qantas [COLOR=#366388 ! important]Airways[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] suspended flights of its Airbus A380 fleet on Thursday 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 Thursday, 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 told reporters in Sydney.
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 [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Australian [COLOR=#366388 ! important]Transport [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Safety [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Bureau[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] 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 on Friday morning.
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.
There have been no fatal incidents involving A380s since they were launched in 2005 amid great fanfare as the greenest, quietest -- as well as the biggest -- jetliner. Shares in [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Airbus [COLOR=#366388 ! important]parent [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]company [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]EADS[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] were down around 4 percent in early trade
Reuters – Technicians look at the damaged engine of Qantas Airways A380 passenger plane QF32 after it was forced …
By Harry Suhartono and Sanjeev Miglani Harry Suhartono And Sanjeev Miglani – 17 mins ago
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Qantas [COLOR=#366388 ! important]Airways[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] suspended flights of its Airbus A380 fleet on Thursday 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 Thursday, 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 told reporters in Sydney.
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 [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Australian [COLOR=#366388 ! important]Transport [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Safety [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Bureau[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] 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 on Friday morning.
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.
There have been no fatal incidents involving A380s since they were launched in 2005 amid great fanfare as the greenest, quietest -- as well as the biggest -- jetliner. Shares in [COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]Airbus [COLOR=#366388 ! important]parent [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]company [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 ! important]EADS[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] were down around 4 percent in early trade
