Qantas A380 Flight Almost Blew Up
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AAAThe plane, with 450 people onboard, came very close to exploding over Indonesia investigators have found.
Preliminary reports show that when a Rolls-Royce engine on the plane blew in mid-air, shrapnel "severed a fuel pipe and narrowly missed the wing's fuel tank," reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
The airline was ''very, very lucky'," Adrian Mouritz, the head of aerospace and aviation engineering at RMIT University, tells the newspaper. "If that fuel ignited, that aircraft would have exploded," he says.
Debris also severed cables and hydraulic lines and took out some flight control systems, the reports say. Pieces of the engine also struck the fuselage above the wings and damaged the plane's underbelly.
Steve Purvanis, Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, tells Australia's ABC News that given the catastrophic damage everyone was lucky to survive the incident.
"Definitely with fuel gushing out of the fuel tank there and some very hot components, certainly one that was hot enough to explode an engine, they were very lucky that fuel inside the wing didn't ignite," he says.
You're watching Part of Qantas A380 Engine Blows Apart.
The pilots of the plane were forced to deal with an "unprecedented" series of events, Richard Woodward, vice president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, tells The Associated Press.
"There is probably a 1 in 100 million chance to have all that go wrong," says Woodward, who adds he has talked to all five of the pilots, including two extra captains, who were on the ill-fated flight.
As a result of the Nov. 4 incident, Qantas is replacing as many as 14 Rolls-Royce engines on its A380s, says chief executive Alan Joyce.
Qantas has grounded its A380 fleet and Joyce did not say when the planes would resume flying.
Other carriers including Singapore Airlines are also replacing engines on the giant planes. A380s are the world's largest passenger jets.
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Photo, simon_sees, flickr
READER COMMENTS (Page 1 of 1)
It only goes to show that no one learns from history as for centuries the English & the French have never gotten along. The French dont like anyone. They dont even like themselves. How can anyone believe that a product manufactured in France would possibly be able to get along with made in England?
Not necessarily, Jet fuel / kerosene IS A STABLE fuel unless ignited by flame or heat beyond 129F. Fuel dumping is done regularly by airlines when an emergency occurs and when engines are running. Yes, A380 and passengers are VERY VERY lucky that turbine disk did not rupture hydraulic lines or fuel tank.
Who is "Woodward" and how long did you have to search to find someone with a title like "very very lucky" and "that aircraft would have exploded" and what is RMIT University? While there was definately a worse emergency than a simple engine failure, you are grabbing every possibility and writing as if they were likelyhoods and near misses.
RMIT is Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The note states that Richard Woodward is the vice president of the Australian and International Pilots Association.
Qantas was knife-edge close to losing its long-standing reputation as the one airline to never lose a jet airplane - something this article didn't mention.
It is the biggest airliner in the world and it is not a Boeing, AND its engine are not american either... I wonder who is behind deliberately vague, but sensational reports like this. Like CR Wirt I'd like to know what is RMIT University...
Looks like somebody somewhere is trying to profit from what could have turned out to be a horrible tragedy. Pretty disgusting...
That cured me from flying. First they grab your 'junk' in the airport then they blow you all over the world. NO THANKS!
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