QANTAS A380 Uncontained failure.

[firstfloor]

The certificate failed.

I think this is quite wrong. There is nothing wrong with the type certification process. Engines meeting the relevant specifications will perform as expected albeit that a new fleet will inevitably have teething problems. In this case the engine was defective and so cannot be expected to perform in the same way as a normal engine because a defective example is not representative of type.

Following the engine failure there was obviously much more focus on teething problems to see if the known issues were linked unexpectedly to the engine failure. Once oil fire becomes a reality the pressure is on to deal conclusively with any already known imperfect oil seal even if it is not an airworthiness issue.

The type is easily capable of the thrust required for the North America flights. What has been at issue apparently has been the durability of the HP/IP support structure now apparently improved to unlimited life cycle through two successive modifications (B and C).