A380 Crew Lauded for Saving damaged Aircraft

[n2doc]

By MERAIAH FOLEY and NICOLA CLARK
Published: December 3, 2010

SYDNEY, Australia — A report by Australian aviation investigators on Friday provided fresh insight on the challenges faced by a Qantas A380 jet that experienced a mid-air engine explosion last month, describing in vivid detail the damage sustained to the plane’s wing and fuel systems and lauding the crew’s calm and professionalism in bringing the crippled jet with 469 people aboard to a safe landing in Singapore a mere 150 yards from the end of the runway.

The official interim report issued by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau echoed fresh safety recommendations and airworthiness directives issued Thursday for the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines after investigators found a potential manufacturing defect that may have contributed to the leak.

“The aircraft would not have arrived safely in Singapore without the focused and effective action of the flight crew,” the bureau’s chief commissioner, Martin Dolan, told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

The investigator’s report confirmed that metal fragments from the splintered turbine of the plane’s No. 2 engine tore holes in the left wing and fuselage minutes after takeoff from Changi International Airport as the plane ascended through 7,000 feet elevation. The explosion triggered a cascade of electrical and hydraulic failures and emergency warnings in at least 10 other areas of the aircraft, leaving the plane with limited flight controls, the report said.

more

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/world/asia/04qantas.html

[rfranklin]

1. Now, if they had landed it in the harbor...

that would be something to talk about.