AUSTRALIA: Transport Safety Bureau report points to potential defect in Quantas A380's Rolls Royce engine

Record ID: 1532703

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Transport Safety Bureau report points to potential defect in Quantas A380's Rolls Royce engine
  • Date: 4th December 2010
  • Summary: SINGAPORE (FILE - NOVEMBER 4, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF QANTAS A380 ON TARMAC AFTER EXPERIENCING ENGINE FAILURE
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2010 15:22
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVADTGCYCFWQU6H2WNJCRL15YD5N
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released a report on Friday (December 3) into a Qantas A380 engine failure over Indonesia's Batam Island in November.
    It concluded the incident likely arose because of a design fault led to fatigue cracking and oil leakage which caused an oil fire.
    "In the course of investigation in the last 48 hours we, working with Rolls Royce and others determined that there was a particular problem that had to that stage not been identified, and we therefore yesterday issued a safety recommendation in relation to that issue. Which is essentially a manufacturing defect, or potential manufacturing defect in oil pipes in a number of Trent 900 series engines, which had the potential to lead to fatigue cracking, the liberation of oil and the sorts of things that happened with the engine in the incident over Batam Island," Martin Dolan, the ATSB's Chief Commissioner said at a news conference on Friday.
    Dolan added that this could be a one off, but the investigation was ongoing.
    "The investigation is continuing. The report outlines a range of a further lines of inquiry. We are not yet at the stage where we can definitively say that the fatigue problem, potential fatigue problem with the oil pipe that has been detected is the cause of what happened over Batam Island but we think it is significant enough as a safety issue in any event that it needed to be identified and it has been safely dealt with," he said.
    The ATSB added it was satisfied that Rolls-Royce's directives have adequately addressed immediate safety issues.
    However, those directives limit how Qantas can use its planes, forcing much of its fleet to stay on the ground as it checks and replaces engines, and keeping planes off its longest and most lucrative routes.
    Qantas Airways is claiming damages from Rolls-Royce over the engines and loss of business.
    Qantas, in a claim filed in the Federal Court of Australia, said Rolls-Royce was in breach of duty and may have misled the airline when it supplied engines that were defective and could not perform according the standards guaranteed by Airbus and Rolls-Royce.
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