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Qantas Flight 32

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Qantas Flight 32
Airbus A380 VH-OQA, the plane involved in the accident
Accident
Date4 November 2010
SummaryUncontained engine failure
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A380-842[1]
Aircraft nameNancy Bird Walton
OperatorQantas
RegistrationVH-OQA
Flight originLondon Heathrow Airport
StopoverSingapore Changi Airport
DestinationSydney Airport
Passengers440[2]
Crew29[2]
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors469 (all)

Qantas Flight 32 was a Qantas passenger flight that on 4 November 2010 suffered an uncontained engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing at Singapore Changi Airport. The failure was the first of its kind for the four-engined Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft. On inspection, it was found that the aircraft's No.2 engine (on the port side nearest the fuselage), a Rolls-Royce Trent 900, had a missing turbine disc. The aircraft had also suffered damage to the nacelle, wing, fuel system, landing gear, flight controls, and to the controls for engine No.1.

The involved aircraft's tail number was VH-OQA, Nancy Bird Walton, Qantas' first A380, delivered in September 2008. The failure occurred over Batam Island, Indonesia on Flight 32 from London Heathrow Airport to Sydney Airport, four minutes after taking off from Changi for the second leg of the flight. After holding to determine aircraft status, the aircraft returned to Changi nearly two hours after take-off. There were no injuries to the passengers, crew or people on the ground; debris from the accident fell onto the Indonesian island of Batam.[3]

The A380 first entered commercial service in October 2007, and at the time of the accident, a total of 39 A380s were operating with five airlines, Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. The accident led to the temporary grounding of the rest of the five-plane Qantas A380 fleet, and groundings, inspections and engine replacements on some other Rolls-Royce powered A380s in service with Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, but not in the A380 fleets of Air France or Emirates, which are powered by Engine Alliance engines.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Airbus A380-842, registration number VH-OQA, serial number 014.[2][4] Delivered in September 2008, the aircraft had four Trent 972 engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce.[5] The aircraft (named Nancy Bird Walton in honour of the Australian aviation pioneer) was the first A380 delivered to Qantas.[6]

Accident

The accident, at 10:01 am Singapore Standard Time (02:01 UTC), was caused by an uncontained failure of the port inboard (Number 2) engine, while en route over Batam Island, Indonesia.[2][7] Rolls Royce determined that the direct cause of the engine failure was an oil fire, which led to the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc in the inner left No. 2 engine.[8] The ATSB's preliminary report[9] found that the underlying cause was a misaligned counter bore within a stub oil pipe leading to a fatigue fracture.

Shrapnel from the exploding engine punctured part of the wing and damaged the fuel system, causing leaks[10] which disabled one hydraulic system and the anti-lock brakes and caused No.1 and No.4 engines to go into a ‘degraded’ mode,[11] damaged landing flaps and the controls for the outer left No.1 engine.[12]

The crew, after finding the plane controllable, decided to fly a racetrack holding pattern close to Changi airport while assessing the status of the aircraft. It took 50 minutes to complete this initial assessment. The First Officer (FO) and Supervising Check Captain (SCC) then input the plane's status to the landing distance performance application (LDPA) for a landing 50 tonnes over maximum landing weight at Changi.[11] Based on these inputs the LDPA did not calculate a landing distance. After discussion the crew elected to remove inputs related to a wet runway, in the knowledge that the runway was dry. The LDPA then returned the information that the landing was feasible with 100 metres of runway remaining.[9] The flight then returned to Singapore Changi Airport, landing safely after the crew extended the landing gear by a gravity drop emergency extension system,[9][10] at 11:45 am Singapore time.[13][14] As a result of the aircraft landing 35 knots faster[11] than normal, four tyres were blown.[15]

Qantas A380 cockpit. During the emergency, pilots were alerted by 54 error messages generated by aircraft systems.

Upon landing, the crew were unable to shut down the No.1 engine, which had to be doused by emergency crews 2 hours after landing until flameout. [9][16] The pilots considered whether to evacuate the plane immediately after landing as fuel was leaking from the left wing onto the brakes, which were extremely hot from maximum braking. The SCC pilot, David Evans, noted in an interview, "We’ve got a situation where there is fuel, hot brakes and an engine that we can’t shut down. And really the safest place was onboard the aircraft until such time as things changed. So we had the cabin crew with an alert phase the whole time through ready to evacuate, open doors, inflate slides at any moment. As time went by, that danger abated and, thankfully, we were lucky enough to get everybody off very calmly and very methodically through one set of stairs."[11] The plane was on battery power and had to contend with only one VHF radio to coordinate emergency procedure with the local fire crew.[17]

There were no injuries reported among the 440 passengers and 29 crew on board the plane.[18] Debris also fell on houses, causing structural damage,[19] and on a car.[20]

Pilot and crew

The pilot of the plane, Captain Richard de Crespigny, has been credited in the media as "having guided a heavily damaged double-decker jet to the safety of Singapore Airport and averting what could have been a catastrophe".[21] He has 35 years of flying experience and was one of the first two Qantas pilots to fly the Airbus A380.[22]

On 18 November Richard Woodward, a vice president of the Australian and International Pilots Association reported that there were five pilots on the cockpit of this flight. In addition to the normal crew of Captain, First and Second Officer, there were two additional check captains. The captain who was being trained as a Check Captain (CC) and the Supervising Check Captain (SCC) who was training the CC.[9] While Captain de Crespigny concentrated on flying the aircraft, the other four pilots dealt with the 54 computer alarms.[23]

Cause

Engine nacelle of Qantas A380 open for inspection, showing Rolls-Royce Trent 900 components

The ongoing investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau indicated that "fatigue cracking" in a stub pipe within the engine resulted in oil leakage followed by an oil fire in the engine.[24] The fire led to the release of the Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) disc. It also said the issue is specific to the Trent 900.[25]

Airbus determined that the IPT disc released three different high energy fragments, resulting in structural and systems damage. It also concluded that segregated wiring routes were cut by two out of the three individual pieces of disc debris and as a result, engine one could not be shut down after landing.[26]

On 10 November, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, ordering airlines using the Trent 900 engine to conduct frequent and stringent tests, including extended ground idle runs, Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) stage one blade and case drain inspections and High Pressure/Intermediate Pressure (HP/IP) structure air buffer cavity and oil service tube inspections.[27] However, on 22 November, the EASA eased its inspection guidelines, citing progress in the investigation. It dropped requirements for extended ground idle runs and requirements for repetitive inspections of the LPT stage one blades and case drain. [28] On 2 December, the ATSB ordered a one-off inspection of the "relevant" Trent 900 engines within two flight cycles.[24]

On 3 December, the ATSB issued a preliminary report which contained a key finding of a manufacturing flaw: An area of fatigue cracking was found within a stub pipe, that feeds oil to the engine HP/IP bearing structure.[29] Bearing lubricating oil leaked from that crack, causing the subsequent engine fire and failure of the IP turbine disc. The fatigue fracture was a result of the misalignment of that stub pipe, during the counter-boring process. That inaccurate alignment resulted in one side of the same stub pipe becoming too thin to resist fatigue fracturing.[30][31] This "could lead to an elevated risk of fatigue crack initiation and growth, oil leakage and potential catastrophic engine failure from a resulting oil fire," according to the agency.[31]

The findings were determined to be a "critical safety issue," and the ATSB recommended immediate inspections of in-service Trent 900 engines.[31] On 8 December the ATSB reported that 45 Trent 900 engines had been inspected, and 3 of these engines had failed inspection and had been removed from service.[32]

Reaction

Stock markets

Immediately after the accident, shares in the engine's manufacturer, London Stock Exchange listed Rolls-Royce plc, fell 5.5% to 618.5 pence, their sharpest fall in 18 months.[33] This was the lowest price since mid September 2010. The fall in the share price was directly attributed to this accident.[33] Shares in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), which owns Airbus, also fell.[34]

By mid-morning on 8 November 2010, Rolls-Royce shares had fallen by more than 10% since the accident on the previous Thursday.[35]

Grounding of aircraft and replacement of engines

Both Qantas[14][36] and Singapore Airlines,[37] which uses the same Rolls Royce engine in its A380 aircraft, temporarily grounded their A380 fleets after the accident and performed further inspections. Singapore Airlines resumed operations the following day.[37]

Investigation of all four other operational Qantas A380s revealed concerns with two engines. Those engines were to be replaced, after which operation was expected to be resumed. The problems with one of these engines "could have potentially led to a repeat of Thursday's incident on QF32".[16] On 8 November 2010 the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce, stated that the A380 fleet would remain grounded because new issues in the engines appeared,[38] including oil leaks within the engines, something Joyce said was "beyond normal tolerances".[39] Singapore Airlines, which initially stated it "did not find any issues of concern"[40] after inspecting the engines of its A380s, announced on November 10 it planned to replace three engines on three separate planes, grounding the aircraft in question until the issues were resolved.[41] The airline allowed the planes to return to Singapore after discovery of the anomaly.[41] On November 10, Lufthansa announced the replacement of an engine on its first A380 which it termed "precautionary".[42] On 3 December, Qantas announced that a total of 16 Trent 900 engines needed to have repairs made or be replaced entirely; at the time of the announcement, the airline said five had already been replaced.[43]

Wikinews has related news:

On 23 November, Qantas announced that it would begin to partially return its fleet of A380s to service, beginning on 27 November.[44] Initially it returned two of its six A380s into while the rest of the fleet stayed grounded pending inspections and engine changes. [45] The two aircraft entered service on the Sydney–Singapore–London route, where the engines use less than maximum thrust.[44] Qantas initially said it planned to refrain from using the aircraft on routes between Los Angeles and Australia, the longest routes globally served by the A380, where highest engine performance was required on take-off.[44] However, on Jan. 11, 2011, Qantas announced it would resume using the A380 on the Los Angeles routes after talks with the manufacturers and regulators ensures the aircraft was safe to use. [46] By the end of January, Qantas operated all but one of its A380s but did not have a timeframe for returning VH-OQA, the aircraft damaged in the accident, to service.

Reactions regarding significance

Tom Ballantyne, a writer on Orient Aviation Magazine, described the accident as "certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations", and concerns have been voiced that this accident may be due to a "major problem", rather than being maintenance-related.[34] Qantas CEO Alan Joyce stated on 5 November that Qantas considered the likely cause "some kind of material failure or a design issue".[47]

The damage, described in the Sydney Morning Herald as "potentially life-threatening and extremely rare", caused aircraft engineer Peter Marosszeky, from the University of New South Wales to state that "I rarely ever see a failure like this on any engine", while Paul Cousins, the federal president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association stated that "fewer than 5% of engine failures involved debris leaving the casing of the engine", as was the case in this accident.[48]

Operational history

This Airbus A380 accident followed two previous incidents involving Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. In September 2009, an engine malfunctioned on a Singapore Airlines flight from Paris to the Far East, and a Tokyo-Frankfurt Lufthansa flight in August 2010 had engine trouble which resulted in one engine being shut down due to low oil pressure. No such incidents have been reported for the Airbus A380s that are powered by Engine Alliance engines (made by GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney as a joint venture) and operated by Emirates and Air France.[49]

An airworthiness directive was issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency on 4 August 2010 that required inspection of certain aspects of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine.[47]

References

  1. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A380-842 VH-OQA Batam Island". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Aviation Safety Investigation Report 089 – Qantas Airbus A380 - Inflight engine shut down, Indonesia". Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Department of Transport and Regional Services, Government of Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  3. ^ Indonesians collect debris from Qantas plane engine
  4. ^ "Aircraft registration". Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
  5. ^ "VH-OQA details". planespotters.
  6. ^ "A380 operators carry out inspections in wake of Qantas engine failure". Air Transport World. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Qantas A380 specifications". Qantas. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Trent 900 update". Rolls-Royce. 12/11/10. Retrieved 23 November 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e "ATSB Preliminary Investigation Report, AO-2010-089 -- In-flight uncontained engine failure overhead Batam Island, Indonesia 4 November 2010 VH-OQA Airbus A380-842" (PDF). ATSB 3.6MB PDF. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  10. ^ a b Jonas, George (20 November 2010). "Qantas's close call". National Post. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  11. ^ a b c d Robinson, Tim. "Qantas QF32 flight from the cockpit". The Royal Aeronautical Society. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  12. ^ Airbus - QF32 AIT #3, dated 17th November 2010
  13. ^ O'Sullivan, Matt (4 November 2010). "Qantas jet engine fails: witnesses tell of hearing explosion". The Age. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  14. ^ a b "Statement on QF32 Air Return to Singapore - Aircraft has Landed Safely". Qantas Airways Limited. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Design fault may have caused Qantas jet drama". news.com.au. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  16. ^ a b Horton, Will (6 November 2010). "Qantas to change engines on two A380s". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  17. ^ "Landing was least of Qantas A380's problems". 11 November 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  18. ^ "Qantas grounds A380s after engine incident". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  19. ^ "Family's terror as debris from exploding Qantas superjumbo engine tears 6ft hole in wall of family home". Daily Mail. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  20. ^ Heasley, Andrew (5 November 2010). "Explosion grounds Qantas Airbus fleet". The Age. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  21. ^ Andrew Carswell; Cindy Wockner (6 November 2010). "Qantas 'not worried' about 747 fleet after second mid-air incident in two days". The Advertiser. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  22. ^ Barclay Crawford, Brenden Hills and Simon Kearney (7 November 2010). "Richard de Crespigny, Qantas's Captain Marvel". Herald Sun. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  23. ^ Joan Lowy (18 November 2010). "Cascading failures followed airline engine blowout". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  24. ^ a b Siva Govindasamy (2 December 2010). "Pipe fatigue behind Qantas A380 Trent 900 failure: ATSB". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  25. ^ "Trent 900 update". Rolls-Royce. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  26. ^ Airbus QF32 AIT 3, dated 17th November 2010
  27. ^ "EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE" (PDF). EASA. 10/11/10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "23 November 2010" ignored (help)
  28. ^ "EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE" (PDF). EASA. 22/11/10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "25 November 2010" ignored (help)
  29. ^ "ATSB preliminary report=http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/2888854/ao-2010-089%20preliminary%20report.pdf#page=0". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help); Text "3 December 2010" ignored (help)
  30. ^ "ATSB preliminary report=http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/2888854/ao-2010-089%20preliminary%20report.pdf#page=0". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help); Text "3 December 2010" ignored (help)
  31. ^ a b c "Problems in manufacturing process led to Trent 900 failure: ATSB". Flightglobal.com. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  32. ^ "ATSB News Update - Qantas Airbus A380 inflight engine failure". ATSB. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  33. ^ a b "Rolls Falls Most in a Year After Engine Failure Grounds A380s". Bloomberg. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  34. ^ a b Madslien, Jorn (4 November 2010). "Qantas emergency points spotlight at Airbus and Rolls-Royce". BBC News. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  35. ^ "Rolls-Royce 'makes progress' in A380 engine probe". BBC News. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  36. ^ "Qantas grounds A380s after Singapore emergency landing". BBC News. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  37. ^ a b "Delays to A380 flights". Singapore Airlines. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  38. ^ CNN Wire Staff. "Qantas' A380 fleet to remain grounded, CEO says." CNN. November 7, 2010. Retrieved on November 7, 2010.
  39. ^ "New Oil Leaks Keep Qantas Airbus Jets Grounded". The New York Times. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  40. ^ "Singapore Air says no issue with its A380 engines". Reuters. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  41. ^ a b Govindasamy, Siva (10 November 2010). "SIA to change three engines on A380s". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  42. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (10 November 2010). "Lufthansa's first A380 has 'precautionary' engine change". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  43. ^ "Sixteen Qantas Trent-900s require modification or replacement". Flightglobal.com. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  44. ^ a b c "Qantas to resume limited A380 services". Flightglobal.com. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  45. ^ "Qantas plan to resume A380 flights eases Rolls woes". Reuters.com. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  46. ^ "Qantas Prepares to Resume A380 Flying on USA Routes". Qantas. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  47. ^ a b "Design fault 'may have caused A380 scare' - Qantas". BBC News. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  48. ^ Cook, Aaron (5 November 2010). "Damage rare but can be catastrophic, say engineers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  49. ^ "Qantas A380 Airbus emergency is third scare for superjumbo". The Daily Telegraph. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

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