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-Short Attention Span Theater-

Qantas: 40 engines on A380s need to be replaced

2010-11-19

SYDNEY - As many as half of the 80 Rolls-Royce engines that power the world's largest jetliner may have faulty parts at risk of oil leaks like the one that caused the fire and partial disintegration of a motor on a Qantas flight this month, the Australian national airline's chief executive said Thursday.

Yeah yeah, not WoT, but it does give me a chance to run the 'flying turkey' pic again ...

The 40 potentially faulty engines on the Airbus A380 would need to be replaced with new engines while the fault is fixed, raising the spectre of engine shortages that could delay future deliveries of the 7-story-tall superjumbo.

The comments by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce were the most definite accounting yet of a problem that now appears far larger than first imagined when one of his airline's engines came apart over Indonesia, spewing metal shrapnel into a wing and severing vital operating systems.

Qantas has grounded its fleet of six A380s, each powered by four of the giant Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. Joyce told reporters that Qantas may have to replace 14 engines, each worth about $10 million.

Rolls-Royce has indicated that the number of engines that needed to be replaced was "40 engines worldwide," he said."That's what they think they'll have to change."

An Airbus spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, in the cockpit. Sounds like these guys earned their money that day...

Posted by:Steve White

#7 Ebbang: Qantas has crashed. Bangkok a few years ago when they ran off the end of a wet runway at night at a fair clip and wound up in a golf course(Qantas all inclusive Thai golf tours - gets you right to the course). Cause was a total screwup in crew co-ordination (F/O was flying, decided to go round, opened throttles, Captain then pluued them back ....). Then they sat there for 20 minutes before evacuating the pax. Clearly there were no military or civilian pilots amongst the pax that day and they were damn lucky the thing didn't burn as the damage was severe enough. They had the airplane repaired so they could claim no write offs but technically it was an insurance write off.
Qantas has also had a few near misses including a domestic 737 holding at Canberra early in the morning, waiting for the air traffic controllers to get to work and turn the lights on. They were holding at an altitude below the surrounding mountains and were flying the wrong pattern. Ground proximity warning systems are a wonderful thing.

Posted by: Aussie Mike 2010-11-19 19:09

#6 Agree w/ EC: The FAA has suspended any further in-flight 787 certification testing until the source of last week's in flight e-bay fire is determined. There was a report that said all the 787 test birds haver returned to Everett until the investigation is over. Ground-based cert efforts are continuing.

Posted by: USN, Ret. 2010-11-19 14:11

#5 Just in case you've never seen it before, Qantas never crashed.

Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-11-19 11:58

#4 Seems to me it shouldn't be that much of a stretch to route critical stuff where it's not going to get blasted if an engine explodes, or at least armor it somehow.

And what about wireless connections as backups if the wired stuff gets shredded?

Posted by: gorb 2010-11-19 03:22

#3 "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!"

Not quite. Half of A380 delivered have Pratt & Whitney engines, and there are also Boeing airplanes that fly with RR.

Boeing Dreamliner has its own problems.

Posted by: European Conservative 2010-11-19 02:45

#2 IIRC, it was RR's inability to provide engines to Lockheed-Martin that caused the demise of an earlier widebody, the L-1011.

Posted by: USN,Ret 2010-11-19 01:54

#1 "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!"

Posted by: Besoeker 2010-11-19 01:39

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