Qantas 380 In-Flight Engine Shutdown

[RobShan]

A year to the day since QF32 has a engine malfunction, another 380 has had to shutdown an engine in-flight.

NewsCorp (http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/qantas-plane-bound-to-london-diverted-to-dubai-after-engine-trouble/story-e6frfq80-1226185662859)

[jacek_flying]

Any ideas on what the initial cause of the engine shut down was?

[SummerLightning]

BBC News quoting a Qantas spokesman - problem due to 'engine oil defect'. I suspect this may be the media latching on to a fairly mundane event.

BBC News - Qantas flight lands safely in Dubai after engine issues (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15587519)

[Short_Circuit]

OW said it was an Oil Quantity Pressure problem :confused:

[wiggy]

I suspect this may be the media latching on to a fairly mundane event.



I'm sure you're right, but according to some reports Britain's chief luvvie and Twitterer in chief was on board, so don't expect the story to go away anytime soon.....

[ejectx3]

From news.fail.au

"It is not clear yet what triggered the engine oil quality defect indicator that forced pilots to shut down the engine, but passengers were not expected to reboard the flight. A spokeswoman for the airline said the timing of the incident was unfortunate"

Damn that bad quality oil!

[strake]

I suspect this may be the media latching on to a fairly mundane event.
Not wishing to be picky but I consider a mundane event to be when I get on a scheduled flight and get off at the other end without anything going wrong.
The presumably rather experienced crew of this aircraft decided to shut down and engine and land as soon as practicably possible. That isn't a normal event no matter how blasé one wishes to appear about it. This, on a fairly new aircraft type which appears to have a bit of "previous" when it comes to unscheduled stops - particularly with this airline.
I am not in any way an apologist for some of the hyperbole appearing in the media but in fairness, I would say this event was fairly reported by the Beeb.

[B777FD]

It would be mundane if it were merely in inflight shutdown. I thought a 4 engine machine that shuts one engine down normally would continue to destination. And why not just land - looks like it held at FL100 at BUBIN for nearly an hour before making an approach. These 2 facts suggest (to me anyway) that there may be more to this than just an inflight shutdown.

Flightradar24.com - Live Flight Tracker! (http://goo.gl/q1GkQ)

[Montgolfier]

in fairness, I would say this event was fairly reported by the Beeb.

In the sense that none of the details are unnecessarily sensationalised, yeah. But I think...in the ideal journalistic world, an article about an in flight engine shut down for a Qantas A380 wouldn't begin with the words, "The actor and writer Stephen Fry was on a Qantas flight.."

When World War III breaks out or aliens invade, it'll be "The actor and writer Stephen Fry woke up this morning and was surprised to discover an unusual scene of smouldering destruction outside his window. He tweeted..."

[Viking101]

Never heard of bad quality oil before, on a flag carrier.

Is the maintenance in Malaysia still? Probably there they should do a inspection of what kind of oil they use. All engines infected then I suppose, of all aircraft being in maintenance. Dangerous stuff!

Still shocked the oz government forced Qantas up in the air... Imagine the atmosphere amongst crew. Well done to this crew of handling this problem despite everything going on around...

[A300Man]

"Britain's Chief Luvvie and Twitterer-in-Chief".

LOL. Love that description. You're right: since he's right on the spot, this thing isn't going away soon.

[Jetric]

Exactly one year after a Qantas A380′s
engine exploded over Indonesia,
another superjumbo has been forced
to divert due to engine trouble.
Flight QF31 from Singapore to London
was diverted to Dubai after an oil problem.
Pilots shut down the number four
engine of the Airbus A380 about 90
minutes after takeoff, Qantas
spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said.
Four pilots, 21 cabin crew and 258 passengers were on board.
The aircraft landed safely in Dubai
4.45am local time without further
incident, the airline said.
Celebrity Stephen Fry is believed to
have been one of the passengers on board QF31. He tweeted to his 3.3
million Twitter followers: “Bugger.
Forced to land in Dubai. An engine has
decided not to play.”
Fry is returning to London after touring
Australia with his TV program QI. It is a year to the day that flight QF32
from London to Sydney was forced to
turn back to Singapore after the A380′s
number two engine exploded, sending
fragments of the turbine disc and other
engine parts into the wing and fuselage.
The airline grounded all of its A380 jets
for several weeks after the incident.
The problem was eventually found to
have been caused by a leak from a
flawed oil pipe. Qantas said the engine explosion and
subsequent grounding of the fleet cost
it an estimated $80 million

[James' Bro]

Is the maintenance in Malaysia still?

Viking 101.

I hope this is written in humor. :\

[golfyankeesierra]

The presumably rather experienced crew of this aircraft decided to shut down and engine and land as soon as practicably possible.
How do you know "land asap"?
When did the failure happen?
Maybe it happened 2 or 3 hours into the flight. That's just to early to make your destination on 3 (higher fuelflow due lower levels). And in DXB there happens to be another major A380 operator - in case you need spares - and lots of hotels and transfer flights.
My guess: they tried to make LHR and when it started to appear they couldn't make it, went for the best commercial en route (not many accommodate the beast).
So, unfortunate for the pax, but hey, these things happen. Not really a land ASAP event.

[stilton]

Don't see how landing in Dubai would help with engine spares.


Doesn't Emirates use GE's on their's ?

[Flightmech]

Who cares that Stephen Fry was onboard. He supports Norwich anyway!

[A300Man]

Golfyankeesierra,

Ironically, none of the above can be found in Dubai today. Meaning:

- Although frame maintenance is available at EK Engineering, EK don't use the RR engine on their A380's, so a replacement engine is not an option (although there is a Rolls-Royce office right behind EK's Engineering facility, so they will be able to assist with replacment coordination, if required);

- Today is the start of a five day long local holiday in the UAE, so all hotels in the city are full to bursting. Literally. Accommodating the interrupted pax will not be so easy, although there is some hotel capacity in smaller hotels and in nearby Sharjah;

- Also on account of above holiday, all scheduled flights out of Dubai are also pretty much full for the next few days. QF (supported on the ground in DXB by DNATA and oneworld's BA) will be able to squeeze people out via transit points in Europe on the likes of KL, AF and LH tonight, and perhaps on TK via IST. QR may also be able to assist on some loadout via Doha.

But, I guess what was of primary importance last night in the QF cockpit wasn't any of the above, but rather an A380-capable runway.

[captplaystation]

What a wholly appropriate thread for "Spectators Balcony". :D

Moderating ain't what it used to be :=

[angels]

silberfuchs - :D :ok:

[golfyankeesierra]

A300Man, aaah that will be a nightmare for Qantas reps...
Shows the complicated logistics side of the A380!


Possibly Silberfuchs has the real reason:)

[jackharr]

Norfolk (http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk_s_stephen_fry_involved_in_emergency_landing_drama_1_ 1117641)

I just love that reporting:=

[BOAC]

“Still stuck on Dubai tarmac. No one seems to know how long we’ll be here. Should’ve landed in London at 6:20. That won’t happen!” - cannot accuse him of lack of perception, can we? Good powers of deduction, I say.

[Lyman]

TRENT 9? Just a guess.

[Topspotter]

Lilely as not nothing more dramatic than a faulty sensor giving the crew a indication of low engine oil pressure or oil quantity, **** happens, things go wrong now and again, no big deal

[lomapaseo]

This content belongs in JetBlast

It might be of more interest if it had any newsworthy aviation content

[barit1]

A300Man:

Last time I was in DXB, DNATA sold me a ticket on RJ for a nonexistent seat to AMM. No problem on the first leg to AUH, but onward to AMM I had to ride in the jump seat. :=

I am NOT making this up.

[vulcanised]

Maybe a bit more newsworthy?

Exclusive - External oil leak blamed for A380 mishap - Yahoo! (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-external-oil-leak-blamed-a380-mishap-182133553.html)

[vulcanised]

Exclusive - External oil leak blamed for A380 mishap - Yahoo! (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-external-oil-leak-blamed-a380-mishap-182133553.html)

[atakacs]

It might be of more interest if it had any newsworthy aviation content

Well I find it rater newsworthy that Quantas is having such low yields. 258 souls (including crew I guess) on 380... ouch :(

[rottenray]

The Airbus A380 superjumbo had 258 passengers on board and had to land after engine number four suffered an engine oil defect.

The location of the leak is seen as significant because it appears to fall in a cooler and less dangerous part of the engine than an internal oil leak which led to a fire and engine explosion on a Rolls-powered Qantas A380 exactly one year ago.

So Rolls is still having varying degrees of problems with the oiling system.

No trolling here, it happened.

[atakacs]

No trolling here, it happened.

I believe the point was that inflight A380 engine shutdown are so common as not worth mentioning :p

[Lyman]

In the FOHE circuit? Who called the shutoff? The Captain? Or Derby?

[grounded27]

Seems probably the first airline to put their fleet of these aircraft soon on the market with their financial/ hardball MGT and union issues. Am I out of line to say that the engine selection for the A380 was not a good pairing, squeeze an orange and get a lemon? Or just simply growing pains for this obese airframe?

[Burger Thing]

I believe the point was that inflight A380 engine shutdown are so common as not worth mentioning

Yes, Airbus A380: The Super Connie of the the New Millennium :}

[clareprop]

So not quite the "Ho-hum, what a fuss about nothing" incident that is then buried here with indecent haste at the behest of the smug and superior...?
Strange how most of them are the first to shout "Wait until we find out the facts..."

Reuters: Exclusive: External oil leak blamed for A380 mishap | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/us-qantas-landing-cause-idUSTRE7A36BV20111104)

[aterpster]

Burger Thing:

Yes, Airbus A380: The Super Connie of the the New Millennium http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/badteeth.gif

The Super Connie did a lot better than the DC-7.

[lomapaseo]

Seems probably the first airline to put their fleet of these aircraft soon on the market with their financial/ hardball MGT and union issues. Am I out of line to say that the engine selection for the A380 was not a good pairing, squeeze an orange and get a lemon? Or just simply growing pains for this obese airframe?


Yup "Or just simply growing pains "

[aeromech3]

Indefinite Tech delay to B767, BA104 in DXB, looked like an oil leak behind #1 possible pylon hydraulics and guess, a lot of passengers were from the Quantas A380 diversion, still trying to make LHR. BA claim no available alternative flight seats or hotel accommodation due Eid holiday here.