Posted on 11/10/2010 10:15:54 PM PST by naturalman1975
INVESTIGATORS probing the A380 engine saga found an oil fire may have led to the mid-air engine explosion last week that seriously damaged a Qantas jet, the Herald Sun reported today.
Details of what is believed to have occurred were revealed in an emergency directive by the European Aviation Safety Authority to all airlines which bought super jumbos fitted with the now suspect Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine.
Singapore Airlines and German carrier Lufthansa are the only other airlines flying Rolls-Royce powered superjumbos.
In today's directive, the European safety regulator said that a preliminary study indicated an oil fire may have caused the engine's intermediate pressure turbine disc to fail.
"This condition, if not detected, could ultimately result in uncontained engine failure, potentially leading to damage to the plane and hazards to persons or property on the ground,'' the regulator warned.
In response to the note, Qantas made it clear that it intends to keep its six superjumbos grounded indefinitely.
The national carrier said A380s would not return to service until there was "complete certainty'' they could operate safely.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
>>The national carrier said A380s would not return to service until there was “complete certainty’’ they could operate safely.<<
No wonder they’ve never lost a plane.
The plane may be retrofitted with new engines or await new parts.
I don’t see a problem.
>>The plane may be retrofitted with new engines or await new parts.
I don’t see a problem.<<
Well, I know “it’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity”, but until it IS retrofitted or parts are replaced, I see an “opportunity”.
So - what is the real story? Rolls Engines defective? Airbus assembly to plane cause damage?
Or is there still a possibility that there was something more nefarious going on?
I don’t know. From what I am reading, there is possibly a design defect. Those are rarely fatal. That is, they find out a particular piece of metal needs to be a bit thicker, or an oil pipe larger. That can force other changes that cause them to have to scrap the whole design, but that’s pretty rare.
“The plane may be retrofitted with new engines or await new parts.
I don’t see a problem.”
Just install new GP7000 engines, problem fixed.
Urban legend perpetuated by people who get their knowledge from Hollywood.
>>Urban legend perpetuated by people who get their knowledge from Hollywood.<<
Hey, I resemble that remark. The Rainman said it, and I believe it, dog gone it!
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