Extract from Jon Snow's daily Channel 4 News e-mail:
Alex here with the way things look for tonight's Channel 4 News.
A terrifying experience in all likelihood for all aboard the giant Qantas Airbus laden with over 450 passengers and crew, when one of its four engines smashed itself to pieces. Flames were seen apparently and metal debris showered from the rear of the casing as the plane made a forced landing. But, it appears the Rolls Royce engine behaved as it should in such circumstances and contained what might have been much worse.
Airline sources are busy telling the public that this is not that big a deal and these planes can fly happily enough on two engines not four. The most dangerous part of flying remains your journey to the airport by a country mile - but there are many things worth looking into here, that notwithstanding.
But as Julian Rush reports tonight there were warnings about the possibility that this very model of Rolls Royce engine could shut-down mid flight. The European aviation safety agency issued a directive about technical aspects of the engine which could present a 'potential unsafe condition to the aeroplane'. He'll have all the details on that and what happened on the Qantas flight and what is now in prospect for the global fleet of superjumbo double-decker airbuses A2330s which can take 853 passengers if fitted for economy only - quite a payload.
Read:
Airbus engine failure warning weeks before Qantas scare - Channel4 News