[061110.EN.AIR] Qantas A380 Engine Fails, Makes Forced Singapore Landing

A QANTAS A380 flight, QF 32, after taking off from Singapore and heading for Sydney, turned around 20 miles away after and engine malfunctioned to make a forced landing in Changi Airport.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the Australian flag carrier would "suspend A380 services until we are confident" thus halting all A380 flights until more is known about the

incident.

The incident was caused by a damaged engine and the aircraft's rear casing was found

missing, said an Agence France-Presse report.

"I didn't see a plane crash but I heard a loud explosion in the air. There were metal shards coming down from the sky into an industrial area in Batam [an Indonesian island 20 miles south of Singapore]," a witness told AFP.

The plane was stopped near the end of the airport runway without smoke or fire but was surrounded by six fire engines and other emergency vehicles.

The double-decker plane carried 433 passengers and 26 crew on board. No one was injured, said the Australian foreign ministry, reported Reuters.

An official airport authority said: "An A380 Qantas flight, QF 32, bound for Sydney, Australia, departed Singapore Changi Airport at 0956 hours [yesterday]. For technical reasons, the aircraft turned back to Changi and landed safely at 1146 hours," the statement said.

"Changi Airport Group's Airport Emergency Service (AES) responded with six fire vehicles, in accordance with standard operating procedure for such incidents. In response to the pilot's request, checks were conducted on the aircraft by AES.

"Once the checks were completed, passengers and crew began disembarking from the

aircraft at Runway 2. Buses were arranged to ferry them to the airport terminal.

Disembarkation of all 469 passengers and crew on board was completed by 1340 hours.

"Runway 2, which has remained closed since the landing, will reopen later today. Flights have continued to take off and land at Runway 1 and operations at Changi have, otherwise, not been affected," said the airport statement.

The Qantas statement said: "A Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft operating QF32 from Singapore to Sydney experienced an engine issue soon after take off and returned to Singapore. 

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.

"We have commenced our own investigations as to how this incident occurred and have

notified the ATSB [Australian Transport Safety Bureau]. We will continue to work

with them as they investigate the issue," said the Qantas statement.

Source : HKSG, 05.11.10.