Qantas plane makes emergency landing
A Qantas Airbus A380 Superjumbo flying from London to Sydney was forced into an emergency landing in Singapore when an engine shut down. The airline has grounded its A380 fleet to investigate.
The Qantas plane had 459 people on board. No one was hurt in the emergency landing.
The plane suffered problems soon after taking off from Singapore. It was forced to dump fuel and return to Changi Airport before making an emergency landing.
Reports suggested one of the double decker plane’s four engines shut down in mid-air, causing the problems. The airline Qantas said it had suspended all flights of its A380 Airbus aircraft until a thorough safety investigation took place.
Priority clearance
A spokesman said: “A Qantas A380 aircraft operating QF32 from Singapore to Sydney experienced an engine issue soon after take off and returned to Singapore.
“The aircraft had 433 passengers and 26 crew on board. In line with procedure, the pilot sought priority clearance for its return to Singapore. The aircraft landed safely at 11.45am.”
This issue of an engine failure is one we have not seen before. We are obviously taking this very seriously, because it was a significant engine failure. Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce
Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said: “We will suspend all A380 take offs until we are fully confident we have sufficient information about [flight] QF32…The A380 is a fantastic aircraft. This issue of an engine failure is one we have not seen before.
“We are obviously taking this very seriously, because it was a significant engine failure.”
Debris
Eyewitness accounts originally suggested that the plane had crashed after an explosion was heard and debris found scattered across western Indonesia.
One of the passengers on board, Ulf Waschbusch, told Sky News: “The captain indicated to the passengers that one of the engines had turned off and a few moments later we dumped fuel and began circling back to Singapore.
“It was a lot calmer on board than you would have thought.”
It is unknown how many British nationals were on board the long-haul flight.
It was a lot calmer on board than you would have thought. Passenger Ulf Waschbusch
The Airbus A380 is the biggest passenger aircraft in the world and a full investigation will now take place into why the “uncontained” engine fault occurred. It launched in 2005 and the incident in Singapore is one of the most serious since it launched as the world’s biggest, greenest and quietest jetliner.
Earlier this year, the same type of aircraft burst two tyres when landing in Sydney, and in September 2009 an A380 was forced to turn around in mid-flight and return to Paris. There are 37 Airbus aircraft in operation worldwide, with another 200 ordered by airlines.