Qantas Airbus A380-842 Engine Failure Nov 2010

Hi ATS members.

Not a conspiracy or a story or a rant. Just information.
For all you techno freaks and aviation buffs or if you are just plain interested.
I have just had the official incident report, for the above, pass accross my desk.

Those that are interested in this 54 page detailed report, please simply U2U me and I will gladly pass it on.
Or (MODS) if you can advise me on how to upload this PDF file, I will make it available to all and sundry.

Kindest Regards

The Lone Archer

What is your take on it for the short version: oil leak, some widget or a combination?

reply to post by kwakakev


Rolls-Royce plc
On 4 November 2010, Rolls-Royce plc issued non-modification service bulletin (NMSB) 72-G589 that required a series of checks on Trent 900 engines.
On 10 November 2010, Rolls-Royce plc issued alert NMSB 72-AG590, requiring the inspection of Trent 900 series engines for evidence of oil leaks into specific turbine area components.
On 12 November 2010 at 0700 UTC, Rolls-Royce plc advised that:
Rolls-Royce is now in a position to provide an update on its statement of 8 November concerning the engine failure on the Trent 900 powered A380 Qantas flight QF32 on 4 November 2010.
Immediately following this incident a regime of engine checks was introduced on the Trent 900s to understand the cause and to ensure safe operation. These have been conducted in parallel with a rigorous examination of all available evidence, including data from the damaged engine and its monitoring system, analysis of recovered material and interrogation of the fleet history.
- 32 -
These investigations have led Rolls-Royce to draw two key conclusions. First, as previously announced, the issue is specific to the Trent 900. Second, the failure was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine. This caused an oil fire, which led to the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc.
Rolls-Royce continues to work closely with the investigating authorities.
Our process of inspection will continue and will be supplemented by the replacement of the relevant module according to an agreed programme.
These measures, undertaken in collaboration with Airbus, our Trent 900 customers and the regulators have regrettably led to some reduction in aircraft availability. This programme will enable our customers progressively to bring the whole fleet back into service.
Safety continues to be Rolls-Royce’s highest priority.
On 18 November 2010, Rolls-Royce plc issued a further NMSB 72-AG590 Revision 2, detailing further Trent 900 engine inspections, including for defects in a number of turbine area oil and air feed pipes.
On 1 December 2010, Rolls-Royce plc issued NMSB 72-G595 that required the specialised examination, measurement and reporting of the HP/IP bearing structure stub pipe counter-bore geometry. A 20-flight cycle compliance limitation was specified for the examination.

I am assuming that you have something to do with Airbus Industrie' because of your location at Toulouse ,Maybe you can explain how these faults get through quality control and show up after many hours of flight testing,Is the 380 being tested still while it's in service? Disregard if my assumption is wrong. Thanks

reply to post by 12voltz


Oil leaks are common, a little bit is ok and generally not a big concern. When a component holding back the oil pressure breaks of and goes in to the engine followed by a stream of oil it is a big problem and things blow up, as it did.

reply to post by kwakakev


I guess you would be familiar with oil leaks, riding a Kawasaki,What is it? a KLR ,See you on a desert track one day.

reply to post by 12voltz


Engineers and design engineers try to cover all aspects and possible failure modes during the design and test phase. However, it wold seem that RR dropped the ball on this one.

As for the Ground and Flight Test Phases, these are a continuous task for the operational life of the aircraft series. For instance, the A340 has been in service since the early 90s, it is considered a mature aircraft. However, there are continuous modifications, customer requests, bug and so forth. Therefore, aircraft testing will continue until the aircraft series is withdrawn from service. There are currently 4 A380 Flight Test Aircraft at Toulouse. I would expect them to be flying for at least 2 if not 3 decades.