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A chunk of the Qantas plane which witnesses in Indonesia said fell from the sky."It sounded like a bomb."
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Date Posted: 4/11/10 2:50:21
Qantas halts A380 take-offs after engine drama17:30 AEST Thu Nov 4 20103 hours 17 minutes ago ShareBy ninemsn staffVIEWS: 0| FLOCKS: 0| 0 comments so far
Alan Joyce announces the A380 suspension.
A chunk of the Qantas plane which witnesses in Indonesia said fell from the sky.
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Nov 04, 2010
Qantas has suspended all take-offs of its A380 passenger jets after one of the superjumbo's engines fell apart while en-route to Sydney from Singapore.
Flight QF 32 was forced to make an emergency landing at Changi Airport around 11.45am (local time) today after pilots turned off one of the four engines.
PHOTOS: 'It sounded like a bomb'
It is not yet clear what happened but the double-decker plane, carrying 433 passengers and 26 crew, landed safely. Passengers and crew have all disembarked.
"We have decided that we all suspend all A380 takeoffs until we are comfortable that we understand the reasons for this and we are comfortable that we can operate again," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced this afternoon.
All those onboard have been put up in hotels in Singapore with Qantas to operate a flight to Sydney tomorrow, Mr Joyce said.
Aviation sources have told ninemsn that the Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau has sent a team to Singapore to investigate the incident.
If a fault is found with the A380 aircraft the entire fleet could be grounded, the source said.
Qantas owns six A380s and has 14 more on order.
There are 37 of the aircraft currently in operation around the world, owned by Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France.
While Qantas initially said the incident was a "non-serious mechanical issue", photographs later emerged showing residents on the Indonesian island of Batam, about 20km off Singapore's south coast, holding pieces of the plane's engine.
"I didn't see a plane crash but I heard a loud explosion in the air. There were metal shards coming down from the sky into an industrial area in Batam," witness Noor Kanwa told AFP.
Other locals said they weren't sure whether the debris was from the wing or engine, but said some parts were up to 1m long.
"Before the parts started falling I heard a very loud explosion," witness Devi told the local Antara news agency.
"It sounded like a bomb."
Another witness described hearing a screeching sound before the explosion, and said Batam residents came out of their homes to observe the high-tech superjumbo circling as it used up its fuel before attempting to land.
"I was driving near a residential estate when suddenly I heard a thunderous braking sound," 35-year-old driver Ricky, 35, said.
"I thought it was an explosion but when I looked up I saw a plane going round and round and there was smoke coming out of its tail.
"Then three or four pieces of metal fell from the sky ... they fell into a field," he added.
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