Qantas grounds A380s following emergency landing
Wednesday, 04 Nov, 2010
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Qantas has suspended scheduled A380 takeoffs after a flight from London to Sydney made a forced landing following engine trouble in the early hours of this morning.
Initial rumours that the A380, flight QF32, had crashed over Indonesia’s Batam Island were immediately denied by Qantas which said that engine issues soon after take off necessitated the emergency landing but that the plane was still entirely safe.
Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said Qantas would suspend A380 services “until we are confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met.”
Pictures of the aircraft on the runway at Changi show a badly damaged engine casing.
In a statement, Qantas said: “The aircraft had 440 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 local time.
“Some media reports suggested the aircraft had crashed. These reports are incorrect. No Qantas aircraft has crashed.”
It added: “We have commenced our own investigations as to how this incident occurred.”
Witnesses to the incident report that they heard a loud explosion and saw plumes of smoke as the plane flew overhead and saw pieces of fuselage drop to the ground.
This is the first mid-air emergency experienced by the A380 which was introduced in 2007.
by Dinah Hatch and Ian Jarrett
Dinah
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