Singapore Airlines is working with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and planemaker Airbus to find out what went wrong with one of the engines on an A380 superjumbo recently. Just 20 minutes into a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong the pilot reported experiencing vibrations and a surge in one of the aircraft’s Trent 900 engines.
He was then forced to shut the engine down and fly the plane back to base. The double-decker was carrying 21 crew members and 368 passengers none of whom were injured. The incident comes eight months after dramatic engine failure on a Qantas A380 caused a violent explosion and forced an emergency landing.
Qantas grounded its fleet of superjumbos following the incident while accident investigators, Airbus and Rolls-Royce located the cause of the problem. They found that a design fault and a leaking oil pipe had resulted in the failure and Rolls-Royce has since repaired and replaced all of the Trent 900s affected.
Erin Atan, a Rolls-Royce spokeswoman, said the London-based manufacturer would be assisting Singapore Airlines and providing technical support to find out what caused the engine failure and get the problem fixed.
Managing partner at Agency Partners, a London-based research firm, Nick Cunningham said that the Singapore Airlines engine problem was unlikely to be related to the fault discovered on the Qantas A380. He added that shutting down an engine while a plane is in-flight is not such a rare occurrence as to be a major cause for worry.
Airbus has confirmed that it too will be assisting Singapore Airlines.
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