A Qantas A380 with more than 450 people on board made a dramatic forced landing in Singapore yesterday, trailing smoke from a blackened engine after the Airbus superjumbo’s first mid-air emergency.
Australia’s Qantas Airways, which has never suffered a fatal jet crash in its 90-year history, said it was grounding all six of its A380s following the incident.
Qantas said flight QF32 developed major engine trouble just six minutes into a flight from Singapore to Sydney, and it dumped fuel over Indonesia before returning to Singapore’s Changi Airport.
There were no injuries to the 433 passengers or the 26 crew, officials said.
Metal debris slammed into areas of the Indonesian city of Batam, on an island just south of Singapore.
Yanes Tri, 55, said a “large piece of metal” punched a hole in her house. “I was shocked but I’m grateful I wasn’t standing next to the wall,” she said.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the plane had experienced “a significant engine failure” to one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 jets. The British engine maker pledged to work with Qantas to identify the problem.
“We will suspend those A380 services until we are completely confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met,” Mr Joyce told reporters in Sydney.
The four other airlines that fly the world’s largest passenger plane – Singapore Airlines, Air France, Emirates and Lufthansa – all said they had no plans to ground their own fleets.
But Airbus and Rolls-Royce later advised Singapore Airlines, which uses the same engine model as Qantas in its A380s, to conduct technical checks on its aircraft.
Airbus, which is betting its future on the commercial viability of the double-decker plane, said the Qantas incident had been “significant” but stressed the A380 was safe to fly on three engines.
“We are not playing down the incident, but it is covered in the certification procedures,” a spokesman for the French-based company said, as France’s air accident investigation agency launched a probe.
After disembarking, relieved passengers recounted the incident to reporters.
German passenger Ulf Waschbusch said there was a loud boom and flames on the plane’s left wing soon after take-off.
“Something ruptured the left wing,” Mr Waschbusch, a technology executive based in Singapore, said.
“Everyone was surprisingly calm on the plane. We are not going crazy at all,” he said. “The crew helped tremendously. I felt in good hands. Qantas did a great job in keeping us safe.”
Six fire engines swarmed the jet on landing, spraying liquid on it, according to an AFP reporter at the Singapore airport.
One of the engines on the plane’s left wing was blackened and its rear cowling was missing.
Passengers began emerging in the arrival hall about five hours after landing, but were whisked away by security officers as a throng of journalists shouted questions.