Qantas jet hit by engine blaze

19:05, Nov 5 2010

A Qantas Boeing 747 with 431 people on board has landed safely in Singapore after an engine caught fire minutes after it took off from the city-state, the airline said.

The problem arose just a day after a Qantas Airbus A380 superjumbo jet made an emergency landing at the same airport due to an engine blow-out.

"There was a loud bang and a jet of fire from the back of the engine," said Andrew Jenkins, a 43-year-old Australian banker.

Jenkins, who was sitting at the back of the plane, said he could see the engine clearly. The blast happened "one or two minutes" into the flight when the plane had climbed about 2,000ft, according to Jenkins.

"We all realised that it was clear that there was a problem," he said. "When we realised that everything was under control, everyone was very calm."

The captain stabilised the plane and came on the public address system to announce that he was returning to Singapore, Jenkins said.


Qantas said in a statement later that flight QF6 from Singapore to Sydney had an issue with its number 1 engine. It said the captain of the jumbo jet sought priority clearance to return to Singapore as a precaution. There were 412 passengers, three flight crew and 16 cabin crew.


After the aircraft returned to Singapore, the passengers were taken in a bus to a hotel for an overnight stay. They are expected to leave on Saturday.


Flight QF6 is a Boeing 747-400, which is fitted with four Rolls-Royce RB211-524G-T engines. The daily flight operates between Frankfurt and Sydney with a stopover in Singapore.


After the Airbus A380 emergency landing on Thursday, Qantas grounded its fleet of A380s and other airlines made checks of their planes which have the same Rolls-Royce engine. The A380 shed debris from the busted engine onto the thickly populated Indonesian island of Batam.


http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0300nationalnews/tm_headline=qantas-jet-hit-by-engine-blaze%26method=full%26objectid=27610316%26siteid=50020-name_page.html

Qantas the flaming Kangaroo ::)

Both Qantas Sydney-bound jets returned to the same point of departure (Singapore) after one of its four Rolls-Royce engines caught fire.

After the first Qantas plane touched down in Singapore just one day before, the engine closest to the fuselage on the left wing had visible burn marks and was missing a section of plate that would have been painted with the red kangaroo logo of the airline. The upper part of the left wing also appeared damaged.

One passenger, Rosemary Hegardy, 60, of Sydney, told The Associated Press that she heard two bangs and saw yellow flames from her window.

Witnesses on the western Indonesian island of Batam, near Singapore, reported hearing a large blast and seeing debris — including panels painted white and red — falling onto houses and a nearby shopping mall.

However...

Qantas said there had been no explosion, but witnesses both on board the plane and on the ground reported otherwise, why?

And have they ruled out terrorism?

Lets see if it happens a third time.





http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/sydney-bound-qantas-747-forced-to-return-to-changi/story-e6frg95x-1225948640845

Singapore want to buy our ASX and Qantas.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Nov 6^th, 2010 at 7:17pm:

Singapore want to buy our ASX and Qantas.

So you think their airport mechanics may have had something to do with it?

Two in a row, could be coincidence?? Could be a technical problem, but, this has a bit of an odd feel about it?

http://www.egoli.com.au/news-and-views/gillard-singapore-pm-meet-over-asx-merger/

Gillard is like Keating, Rudd and Hawke, Chinaphiles and Asiaphiles.

It's sensible to keep relations reasonable between our neighbours, but with our distinct cultural differences, and their style politics, becoming 'friends' just isn't in our best interests.

Business associates perhaps, but that's about it.

Howard had balls of steel, and knew how to keep relations healthy without bending over for them the way ALP do.

Australia is  of Judea-christian western heritage, are an extension of western civilisation, and as much as the ALP have tried to convince Asia, modern Australians see ourselves as being part of Asia, they know our government is merely sucking up.



Hopeless.   ;D

aussiefree2ride wrote on Nov 6^th, 2010 at 7:30pm:

Two in a row, could be coincidence?? Could be a technical problem, but, this has a bit of an odd feel about it?

It's a worry, thats for sure.

::)

True Mellie,  Australia is behaving like the runt of the litter. When dealing with other nations (especially Asian ones) one does need to have some backbone.

I had a strange feeling about it yesterday, before the second plane caught fire.

What's interesting is that Qantas have been quick to pinpoint mechanical concerns, this and deny explosions, despite witnesses both from the cabin and on the ground reporting otherwise.

mellie wrote on Nov 6^th, 2010 at 7:20pm:

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Nov 6th, 2010 at 7:17pm: Singapore want to buy our ASX and Qantas. So you think their airport mechanics may have had something to do with it?

No. It was a joke.

Did anyone else hear how two engines had failed on the Airbus A380 super-jumbo?  They made a big deal of the planes engine catching fire, but it's my understanding that the engine next to it on the same side had either began to fail, before the other one caught fire.

Meaning, they were lucky to get back alive, that plane was by all accounts doomed. 2 engine failures on the same side = little chance of survival.

Just heard on ABC 24, that the pilot and crew from the first plane were infact passengers on the second.

Like with Gillard wanting to remove the union Jack from our flag, perhaps she thought  Asian countries would like us more if we removed the Kangaroo from our plane also?

;D Sorry, bad Joke I know..

Anyway have a great night, I have to hit the books.

Cheers. :)

mellie wrote on Nov 6^th, 2010 at 8:00pm:

Did anyone else hear how two engines had failed on the Airbus A380 super-jumbo?  They made a big deal of the planes engine catching fire, but it's my understanding that the engine next to it on the same side had either began to fail, before the other one caught fire. Meaning, they were lucky to get back alive, that plane was by all accounts doomed. 2 engine failures on the same side = little chance of survival.

The 2nd failure was that the engine would not turn off.
It continued to give out full power & the wings control surface was damaged.
I think it was an aileron.
It was still a very serious situation & required the pilot to land with that
engine providing full power.
This caused a landing that was far too fast &  4 tyres blew out.
The pilot is a real hero.

HEROIC pilot Richard de Crespigny has been caught in a second Qantas emergency - a day after he saved 466 lives by safely landing his stricken jet.

Captain de Crespigny was a passenger aboard flight QF6 on Friday night when flames burst from an engine shortly after takeoff from Singapore's Changi airport, forcing the Boeing 747-400 jumbo to turn back.

All 412 shaken passengers and crew were safely offloaded, including 20 crew members who had already survived the earlier Qantas drama, along with Captain de Crespigny.

Captain de Crespigny was hailed a hero on Thursday after an engine exploded on the Qantas Airbus A-380 jet he was piloting as QF32 shortly after takeoff from the same airport, bound for Sydney. He dumped fuel, reassured passengers and safely executed an emergency landing.

Captain de Crespigny and 19 other crew were aboard QF6, attempting to return home to their families.


Anxious wife Coral de Crespigny had no idea of the second drama until her husband rang her on Friday night and announced calmly: "There's been a delay, I've landed again and I'm going back to the hotel."

Mrs de Crespigny said she had initially been unconcerned by the QF32 drama, but on reflection had begun to worry about her husband's welfare. "The first time I was OK, because I got told by Qantas that everything was alright, so by the time I knew [about it], the danger was over - I already knew he was safe," she said.

"The second time was similar, but I thought 'Gosh, that's a worry'. I'm still looking at the situation going: Holy cow, how did he get out of that?' "

The father of one cabin attendant, who was flying home to Sydney on QF6 as a passenger, said his daughter was "definitely frightened after the first one, but her insecurities were peaking after it happened again".

She was considering flying home with another carrier, he said.

Qantas was scrambling to downplay the dramas, and has sent another plane to Singapore to collect the passengers, who are due to arrive in Sydney today.

Chief executive Alan Joyce denied any link between the two engine failures - although both are Rolls-Royce engines. He has already sought to blame Rolls-Royce for the Airbus engine failure, but said Qantas was "very comfortable with the engines in the 747 as we've had 30 years' dealing with them and experienced in-flight shutdowns before."

Investigations by the airline into its entire fleet of A380 are continuing, and Mr Joyce said they could be back in the air "within days".

"This is an engine issue, and the engines were maintained by Rolls-Royce since being installed," Mr Joyce said. "We believe this is most likely some kind of material failure or a design issue. We don't believe this is related to maintenance in any way."

Staff, passengers and unions have united to attack Mr Joyce, accusing him of undermining Qantas' excellent safety record by cutting costs with outsourced labour and moving some maintenance operations offshore.

Industrial actions over pay, conditions and safety are looming, with the Transport Workers' Union deeply concerned over management's determination to employ staff through secondary "labour hire" companies, rather than as direct Qantas employees.

"It's about time Qantas listened to warning signs," Steve Purvinas, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association's federal secretary, said.

Qantas has never suffered a fatal air incident, although there have been many near misses.

Mrs de Crespigny said her husband "Rich" was "so cool, calm and collected, and he's just so good at what he does, he's a really impressive person".

"You'd think he'd have dealt with that sort of thing on a simulator and he'd just know what to do," she said.

"But you read about what actually happened, and I find myself sitting there saying to myself: 'My God, he really is a hero.' What he had to deal with to keep 400 people alive is just extraordinary."



http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/top-stories/hero-pilot-in-second-mid-air-scare/story-e6frg12l-1225948964734

Remind me never to fly Qantas again.

Yep, exactly what is intended.
Reminds me of the concord, less accidents, yet two problems and it was over.

My Qantas big bang birthday theory


I'm thinking along the lines of engine sabotage, and because it was Qantas's 90th birthday, their CEO is playing it down...despite claiming he has no idea at this stage what caused either of the Qantas jumbos engine failures.

I mean, come off it... 2 Qantas planes, same departure and destination points, same crew on board, both having endured engine failures, on Qantas's birthday.

They must think we are stupid!

A classic case of their placing their own brand and corporate interests before the safety of their passengers.

8-)

http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/qantas-plays-down-sabotage-speculation-20101106-17hvd.html

No Qantas planes should have left that airport until mechanical sabotage/terrorism had been ruled out.

At the time the second plane left Singapore, Qantas had not ruled out neither terrorism or sabotage... and to my knowledge, they still haven't.

I guess their birthday celebrations went off with a big bang afterall.

8-)

Happy 90th Birthday Qantas, and here's to another 90 years of inadequate terminal security and engines being serviced off-shore.

... Qantas's CEO  Alan Joyce is playing down sabotage speculation though admits he does not yet know what had caused either of the engine failures.

But lets continue calling it 'Engine failure' on account of the engines having clearly failed if you wish Alan, but just between you and me, I think there's just too many coincidences to play-down...this and think the public think so too.

It's as though their first attempt failed, so they gave it another shot.
Qantas's fifth aircraft malfunction since March 30 2010.

Recall this?


Quote:

Chief Superintendent Atilano Morada, head of the police Aviation Security Group, said his officers, including explosives experts, may assist in the airline's investigation. "So far, they don't want us to touch it, so we will respect the aircraft owner. But we will make our personnel available if they need assistance in the investigation," he said. No one was injured in the incident, but passengers have spoken of their shock and horror at the “explosive depressurisation”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2458856/Bomb-ruled-out-in-Qantas-plane-accident.html

Time they weren't given the option as to whether or not they want 'external' assistance concerning investigating their own planes.

These are peoples lives we are talking about, what should come first, the safety of the people or their brand?


Far time Qantas were forced to comply with external investigations.

Far time our government legislated this.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/a380-engine-explosion-qantas-boss-blasts-offshore-maintenance-claim-20101105-17gcu.html

"The fact is that these aircraft are ... new aircraft, the engines are new, the engine has been maintained by Rolls Royce, the manufacturer, since we have been given the engine."

So mellies terrorist/s work for Rolls Royce.
Mellies terrorists managed to sabotage the engine/s in quite a sophisticated way.
Luckily, not sophisticated enough to cause all 4 engines to fail within a time frame useful for the terrorist/s.

Whatever the cause, it has sadly called mellies doodle to attention.

jame-e wrote on Nov 7^th, 2010 at 11:58pm:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/a380-engine-explosion-qantas-boss-blasts-offshore-maintenance-claim-20101105-17gcu.html "The fact is that these aircraft are ... new aircraft, the engines are new, the engine has been maintained by Rolls Royce, the manufacturer, since we have been given the engine." So mellies terrorist/s work for Rolls Royce. Mellies terrorists managed to sabotage the engine/s in quite a sophisticated way. Luckily, not sophisticated enough to cause all 4 engines to fail within a time frame useful for the terrorist/s. Whatever the cause, it has sadly called mellies doodle to attention.

Sorry to hear your Qantas shares dropped 1 Billion.

Fact is, neither you or they can rule out terrorism, poor maintenance, sabotage or anything else at this stage, so really, best we wait and see what the outcome of another 'closed' Qantas investigation reveals this time... yes?

Pity it had to occur on Qantas's 90th birthday though, eh?

8-) Party hat anyone?

What if your relatives were on that plane, this or were due to depart from the same terminal tomorrow morning, would you be comfortable knowing they still have yet to finalise enquiries in relation to recent said 'engine failures'?

Hmm?

I don't know about you, but i'd like to know exactly why the engines failed...  

Or is it the fact that they obviously 'did' good enough for you?

Act of god even?

Bad luck?

Freak 'incident?

Will this be the outcome of their not-so-formal 'closed' investigations?



... It's very rare, that even lightening should strike the same place twice....

8-)

It appears as though there are other Qantas owned aircraft which have experienced similar to the more recent 'bangs' though on this occasion, safety authorities didn't take the liberty of investigating the matter at all. Hmmm

Decision over midair 'explosion' angers passenger


Quote:

A passenger on a trans-Tasman flight is angry a midair engine incident will not be investigated by safety authorities. Amanda Tothill, 30, of Dunedin, was on Jetstar Flight JQ150, from Christchurch, with her sister and mother when the Airbus A320 was shaken by an "explosion" on October 19. "It was like an explosion and it just rattled the whole of the plane," Tothill said. The incident happened about 45 minutes from Sydney. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has decided not to investigate. On Thursday, an Airbus A380 operated by Jetstar owner Qantas had to make an emergency landing in Singapore after one of its four engines exploded. Tothill said the incident "sounded very similar" to what she had experienced. After the initial noise another passenger saw flames coming from the right-hand engine, she said. "I had a look myself and by that stage there was just smoke." The Jetstar pilot told passengers the plane was capable of flying and landing on one engine and there was nothing to worry about, she said. The crew also tried to calm passengers, although Tothill said she believed the stress affected them, too. "One was very upset and I saw her wiping away tears and the others were trying to sort her out." Tothill said the plane came in to land at high speed and passengers were "thrown around" in their seats. She praised the pilot for landing safely, but said there was never an explanation for what happened and why the landing was so rough. The bureau said it had funding for a limited number of investigations each year and gave priority to incidents that pointed to "systemic issues" with the potential to "result in catastrophic accidents". "Being on there with my sister and mum and having two children to come home to, I am extremely angry they don't have to answer to anyone and give us an explanation," Tothill said. A Jetstar spokesman said it was carrying out an internal investigation and the aircraft returned to service "some time ago". "Jetstar is continuing to work with the manufacturer of the state-of-the-art engines used in our A320 fleet with respect to our investigation of this event."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4318085/Decision-over-midair-explosion-angers-passenger

These A3**'s have a history of being problematic, a friend of mine is a pilot (used to work for Qantas ironically, flying broken planes back from overseas, (what a job *cringe* great money though)... not too broken, but planes in need of a service, or had minor problems, (not for passenger use)..and he refers to airbusses in general as being large computers flying themselves in the sky.

Also, another three planes have been found to have engine problems.
Looks like Qantas aren't going anywhere for a while.
An 'external' investigation into Qantas and it's Jetstar fleet required.
This is just ridiculous. >:(
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Business/2010/11/08/Qantas_finds_problems_with_more_engines_536365.html

Qantas finds problems with more engines

08 Nov 2010 - 04:29am
Qantas has found issues with three more Rolls-Royce jet engines on its grounded Airbus A380 fleet, dashing the likelihood of their early return to service.

Two engines -- on aircraft in Sydney and Los Angeles -- have been taken off for closer inspection as a result of the eight-hour tests Rolls-Royce recommended, Fairfax newspapers say.

It now seems increasingly unlikely that the grounding of the fleet will be limited to the 48 hours outlined by chief executive Alan Joyce on Friday, Fairfax says.

Thousands of people will experience delays as the airline shuffles its fleet to cover the grounded A380s, spokesman Simon Rushton said.

The airline has one A380 in Singapore under investigation, one in Germany for servicing, one in Sydney and three in Los Angeles undergoing checks after the midair engine explosion on QF32 on Thursday.


Qantas will not say what the nature of the issues is, or whether the three engines are being examined for the same matters.

'It's things that might apply to different components. I can't be more specific than that,' Mr Rushton said.

He said reports that the inspection of the Sydney plane's engines centred on the intermediate-pressure turbine bearings were incorrect.

The engine explosion on QF32 from Singapore to Sydney on Thursday, the overheated engine on QF6 on Friday from Singapore and the cockpit warning of a hydraulic problem on QF29 from Hong Kong to London on the same day has overshadowed what should have been a weekend of celebration for Qantas's 90th anniversary.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Business/2010/11/08/Qantas_finds_problems_with_more_engines_536365.html
________________________________________________________

Now that more and more incidents are creeping out of the woodwork, perhaps there's just nothing more to this than Qantas being downright shabby and incompetent.

I never thought we'd live to see our iconic airline regress to that of a developing 3rd world countries flying cattle truck.


... And they may keep their frequent 'fire' points too!

 ::)

Anyway, for up-to-date information on Qantas,

http://interceder.net/list/Qantas

The more I think about it, it could be a bit of both.

Perhaps off-shore terminal staff are tired of competing with our airline, this and being paid peanuts and working long hours.

Either our airline has gone to the pack due to greed, the deregulation of  prior quality control measures, that once kept our planes in the sky, or there's something 'funny' going on.

I know airport security have been disgruntled for a while now, this and have been venting their concerns to no avail.

::).. Who knows...but it does seem odd that this escaped our medias attention.


Quote:

A passenger on a trans-Tasman flight is angry a midair engine incident will not be investigated by safety authorities. Amanda Tothill, 30, of Dunedin, was on Jetstar Flight JQ150, from Christchurch, with her sister and mother when the Airbus A320 was shaken by an "explosion" on October 19. "It was like an explosion and it just rattled the whole of the plane," Tothill said. The incident happened about 45 minutes from Sydney. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has decided not to investigate. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4318085/Decision-over-midair-explosion-ang...

mellie wrote on Nov 8^th, 2010 at 12:27am:

Fact is, neither you or they can rule out terrorism, poor maintenance, sabotage or anything else at this stage, so really, best we wait and see what the outcome of another 'closed' Qantas investigation reveals this time... yes?

No. I say allude, speculate and sensationalise every fruitloop idea we can. The fear is soothing.