The Qantas A380 that made an emergency landing at Changi International airport in Singapore, the number two engine after removal from the aircraft and the cracked tube that caused the engine failure.
THE flight crew of QF32 battled failures of electrical systems, flight controls, braking and computer systems to land the crippled A380 superjumbo near Singapore.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report today highlighted the crucial role played by the five experienced pilots as they nursed the plane back to Singapore after an engine exploded.
The report reveals that the uncontained failure that destroyed the number two engine also affected two other engines on the plane forcing them into a degraded mode that restricted the flow of information.
One hydraulic system lost much of its fluid while the other registered pump errors and two electrical bus systems failed.
The aircraft's fly-by-wire flight controls went into a lesser alternate law, the wing slats were inoperative and there was only partial control of the airlerons and spoilers.
The crew also had to deal with multiple brake system, fuel system, centre of gravity anti-icing and air data sensor messages.
The autothrust and autoland systems were also knocked out in the explosion.
ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan paid tribute to the response of the aircraft crew.
"The aircraft would not have arrived safely in Singapore without the focused and effective action of the flight crew," he said.
Meanwhile, Qantas said inspections overnight had not found any issues with oil pipes on its two operating A380s and they had resumed service.
Qantas has reserved its right to take legal action against Rolls-Royce under the Australian Trade Practices Act after investigators traced last month's frightening A380 engine failure to a badly manufactured oil tube.
It also coincided with an ATSB alert issued after investigators determined an oil leak that led to a damaging fire inside the engine likely stemmed from fatigue cracking in the thin side of an unevenly bored oil tube.
The fire caused superheating in the turbine disc area which led to the disintegration of the intermediate pressure turbine disc and resulted in substantial damage to the plane.
While investigators are not yet ready to describe the cracked tube as the smoking gun, they say it is "a realistic possibility" that it was the cause of the engine's disintegration.
They were also sufficiently concerned about the safety implications and the possibility of another catastrophic failure to quickly issue the alert, which was immediately translated into an airworthiness directive by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The fear is that there is batch of flawed oil tubes on the earliest "A version" Trent 900 engines produced by Rolls-Royce and that an intermediate group O B version engines that received some modifications may also have them. The latest C engines to come off the production line are known not to be affected.
Mr Dolan said it was unlikely that any standard maintenance procedure would have uncovered this potential problem.
He said he was satisfied that all necessary safety action had been taken with the new inspection regime and the upgraded software.
It was impossible to say how close QF32 came to disaster following the explosion.
But the chief commissioner said when pieces of an engine turbine were released "the consequences are very serious".
Read More
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/atsb-report-cites-role-of-pilots-in-landing-a380-after-engine-blast-knocked-out-key-systems/story-e6frg95x-1225965103553
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report today highlighted the crucial role played by the five experienced pilots as they nursed the plane back to Singapore after an engine exploded.
The report reveals that the uncontained failure that destroyed the number two engine also affected two other engines on the plane forcing them into a degraded mode that restricted the flow of information.
One hydraulic system lost much of its fluid while the other registered pump errors and two electrical bus systems failed.
The aircraft's fly-by-wire flight controls went into a lesser alternate law, the wing slats were inoperative and there was only partial control of the airlerons and spoilers.
The crew also had to deal with multiple brake system, fuel system, centre of gravity anti-icing and air data sensor messages.
The autothrust and autoland systems were also knocked out in the explosion.
ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan paid tribute to the response of the aircraft crew.
"The aircraft would not have arrived safely in Singapore without the focused and effective action of the flight crew," he said.
Meanwhile, Qantas said inspections overnight had not found any issues with oil pipes on its two operating A380s and they had resumed service.
Qantas has reserved its right to take legal action against Rolls-Royce under the Australian Trade Practices Act after investigators traced last month's frightening A380 engine failure to a badly manufactured oil tube.
It also coincided with an ATSB alert issued after investigators determined an oil leak that led to a damaging fire inside the engine likely stemmed from fatigue cracking in the thin side of an unevenly bored oil tube.
The fire caused superheating in the turbine disc area which led to the disintegration of the intermediate pressure turbine disc and resulted in substantial damage to the plane.
While investigators are not yet ready to describe the cracked tube as the smoking gun, they say it is "a realistic possibility" that it was the cause of the engine's disintegration.
They were also sufficiently concerned about the safety implications and the possibility of another catastrophic failure to quickly issue the alert, which was immediately translated into an airworthiness directive by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The fear is that there is batch of flawed oil tubes on the earliest "A version" Trent 900 engines produced by Rolls-Royce and that an intermediate group O B version engines that received some modifications may also have them. The latest C engines to come off the production line are known not to be affected.
Mr Dolan said it was unlikely that any standard maintenance procedure would have uncovered this potential problem.
He said he was satisfied that all necessary safety action had been taken with the new inspection regime and the upgraded software.
It was impossible to say how close QF32 came to disaster following the explosion.
But the chief commissioner said when pieces of an engine turbine were released "the consequences are very serious".
Read More
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/atsb-report-cites-role-of-pilots-in-landing-a380-after-engine-blast-knocked-out-key-systems/story-e6frg95x-1225965103553
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