Qantas A380 engine hit by earlier problem
- By Steve Creedy December 06, 2010 12:00AM
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- THE engine that disintegrated on an Airbus A380 near Singapore last month had earlier been taken off the aircraft to fix another problem.
The engine was only refitted in February, investigators have revealed.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released last week shows the No 2 engine was originally fitted as the aircraft's No 4 engine but was removed last year after metal was found in a chip detector.
Chip detectors are often a permanent magnet used to gather metal fragments, usually from lubrication oil.
The relatively new engine had performed just 3419 flight hours and 416 landing and take-off cycles at the time.
The engine was sent to a Singapore workshop certified to maintain and repair Rolls-Royce engines in September last year.
Engineers found spalling in a low-pressure compressor bearing and replaced the bearing assembly. Spalling occurs when flakes break off from a larger component and is usually associated in mechanical systems with high-stress points.low-pressure compressor is a different part of the engine than the one that failed in the dramatic Singapore incident.
The repair was completed in December last year, the engine was fitted to the aircraft on February 24 and had completed a further 2895 flight hours since then, the report said.
Last week's report revealed the extent of the damage inflicted on the superjumbo and the crucial role the crew played in nursing the crippled plane back to Singapore.
It also confirmed that damage extended beyond the left wing, including damage to the fuselage structure from a small piece of turbine debris.
Qantas has returned two A380s to service on the London route but is unable to fly the planes to Los Angeles because limitations still placed on the engines mean it would have to carry as few as 80 passengers on the return leg.
The Australian.