A380 engine failure (SQ)
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A380 engine failure (SQ)
A Singapore Airlines A380 was forced to turn round mid-flight and head back to Paris on Sunday after one of its four engines failed, the head of the airline's French operations said.
The doubledecker A380 took off from Paris at 12.30 pm with 444 passengers aboard and headed for Singapore, but had to turn round after 2 hours 45 minutes because of the engine problem, airline director Jerry Seah said.
The plane landed safely back in France at 5.45 p.m. and the passengers were sent to hotels as the airline tried to lay on an alternative flight for them.
Seah said he believed it was the first time the plane had suffered such a problem since it had started operating the Singapore-Paris route earlier this year.
The giant jet, built by Airbus, is designed to continue flying with only three engines, but came back to Paris as a safety precaution.
The engines on the Singapore A380s are built by Britain's Rolls Royce Group.
The doubledecker A380 took off from Paris at 12.30 pm with 444 passengers aboard and headed for Singapore, but had to turn round after 2 hours 45 minutes because of the engine problem, airline director Jerry Seah said.
The plane landed safely back in France at 5.45 p.m. and the passengers were sent to hotels as the airline tried to lay on an alternative flight for them.
Seah said he believed it was the first time the plane had suffered such a problem since it had started operating the Singapore-Paris route earlier this year.
The giant jet, built by Airbus, is designed to continue flying with only three engines, but came back to Paris as a safety precaution.
The engines on the Singapore A380s are built by Britain's Rolls Royce Group.
Interesting that they went all the way back to Paris instead of Istanbul or Dubai. Maintenance I suppose.
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I was the controller 
when the A380 J ... requested left turn 180 and .. re-routing to LFPG ...... the aircraft... was on 350 ..after failure ... down to 310....
the PIC ... took this decision in about 20 minutes...
when the A380 J ... requested left turn 180 and .. re-routing to LFPG ...... the aircraft... was on 350 ..after failure ... down to 310.... the PIC ... took this decision in about 20 minutes...
If I understand you they asked for a 180 and a revised plan back to CDG decending from 350 to 310.
Hence my question still stands .. if they were prepared to fly for at least a couple of hours, albeit slower and at a lower altitude and only get back where they started why not push on ?
Dubai isn't a million miles out of the way and at about half distance would be a good place for a refueling stop, and if that wasn't going to work, with plenty of abilities to deal with an A380.
Hence my question still stands .. if they were prepared to fly for at least a couple of hours, albeit slower and at a lower altitude and only get back where they started why not push on ?
Dubai isn't a million miles out of the way and at about half distance would be a good place for a refueling stop, and if that wasn't going to work, with plenty of abilities to deal with an A380.
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Argh, not the dreaded 'three engined' approach!
I'm sure there must have been a slightly nearer acceptable diversion if the beastie was 2.45 hours out!
Or perhaps the airports in the region of North east Mediterranean haven't been sufficiently upgraded to take the weight?
I'm sure there must have been a slightly nearer acceptable diversion if the beastie was 2.45 hours out!
Or perhaps the airports in the region of North east Mediterranean haven't been sufficiently upgraded to take the weight?
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Don't think you'll find you can do a refuelling stop once your down to 3 eng!!
Once on the ground thats it unless the engineers can fix the problem!!
MEL:- 4 eng fitted.... 4 required for dispatch!!!!!!!
Once on the ground thats it unless the engineers can fix the problem!!
MEL:- 4 eng fitted.... 4 required for dispatch!!!!!!!
I humbly acknowledge the MEL point .. all 4 must be servicable at the commencement of the T/O roll. 
DGG
Still wonder why, operationally they didn't use the same flying time and fuel and get half way home rather than have another plane fly all the way back to Paris to collect the stranded Pax.
I can think of lots of possible reasons .. I just wonder if anybody knows the real one
DGG
Still wonder why, operationally they didn't use the same flying time and fuel and get half way home rather than have another plane fly all the way back to Paris to collect the stranded Pax.
I can think of lots of possible reasons .. I just wonder if anybody knows the real one
Last edited by Dave Gittins; 28th Sep 2009 at 12:25.
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maybe they went back all the way to paris at FL310 to burn of some fuel in regards to landing weight. if you still have 3 of 4, why dump and land at some place where you don't have (your own/proper) maint?
Maybe so ... Do Singapore have maintenance at CDG ?? EK have it at DXB and might even have restored the bird to 4
Last edited by Dave Gittins; 28th Sep 2009 at 13:21. Reason: corrected EI to EK
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Lets say go to Dubai, spend 1/2 day on the ground getting engine replaced. Then what? Crews out of duty time, a/c in the wrong place. So in effect the a/c would probably spend a day on the ground only to have to then have it ferried back to Paris as all the pax transfered to other flights.
So most certainly a commercial decision and probably the right one.
So most certainly a commercial decision and probably the right one.
Indeed that may be so .. but I simply question whether it is better to have a broken aeroplane, an out of hours crew and 444 stranded pax 6 hours downroute from home in Singapore rather than 12 ?
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What about the problems associated with customs/immigration?
Everyone that is onboard the plane (probably) had no troubles being in the country of origin. Why add to the situation and take people to a country they may not be allowed to enter?
Granted it would be going there because of a mechanical problem and it wasn't planned, but it would still be a bit of a nightmare for some.
Everyone that is onboard the plane (probably) had no troubles being in the country of origin. Why add to the situation and take people to a country they may not be allowed to enter?
Granted it would be going there because of a mechanical problem and it wasn't planned, but it would still be a bit of a nightmare for some.
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Maybe so ... Do Singapore have maintenance at CDG ?? EI have it at DXB and might even have restored the bird to 4
Safety permitting, it is not an uncommon incident for aircraft that need to divert enroute to divert back to their point of origin or at the very least the nearest airport where the airline has a commercial and engineering presence, rather than just land at the nearest airport that could take the aircraft.
Serious threadcreep but we are in the process of constructing $13 Bn of new airport and 2 nice long runways (longest outside Denver) are key features.
Back on topic .. appreciate the corrections (yes I meant EK) and the logic as to why RR techs in Paris are a better bet than EK.
Back on topic .. appreciate the corrections (yes I meant EK) and the logic as to why RR techs in Paris are a better bet than EK.
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Maybe they should have just landed in TOU and have Airbus solve the problem!!!
SQ does have a maint manager in CDG and trained the engineering staff over there for their 380 ops, so better peace of mind to be diverted there. Saw AOG kit and a spare RRTrent 900 engine ready to be shipped over this afternoon at the freighter stands in SIN.
The doubledecker A380 took off from Paris at 12.30 pm with 444 passengers aboard
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Hasn't any one of you heard of 'contact company via datalink'....???!?
It was in all probability,an executive decision made by the company and not the pilot(s).
Eitherways 3/4 powerplants for the fat girl isn't a mayday or a 'land asap' situation. Like someone rightfully said,burn the extra fuel,get back to point of departure,no customs and/or immigration hiccups AND you dont lose a client along the way. What better decision could one ask for huh...
It was in all probability,an executive decision made by the company and not the pilot(s).
Eitherways 3/4 powerplants for the fat girl isn't a mayday or a 'land asap' situation. Like someone rightfully said,burn the extra fuel,get back to point of departure,no customs and/or immigration hiccups AND you dont lose a client along the way. What better decision could one ask for huh...