Qantas has grounded its Airbus A380 fleet after an engine blowout over Indonesia, forcing a Sydney-bound flight to return to Singapore and make an emergency landing.
It's the third emergency involving the A380 and its Rolls-Royce engines in just over a year.
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In the latest incident, one of the Qantas superjumbo's four engines failed as the plane left Singapore carrying 433 passengers and 26 crew, but no-one on board was hurt.
"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 said yesterday.
Qantas operates six A380s and says its suspension will remain in effect until the outcome of an investigation.
Singapore Airlines will delay all A380 flights while engine checks are carried out.
Of the other airlines operating the A380 — Emirates, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM — none is grounding its fleet, although some are fitted out by the Engine Alliance, not Rolls-Royce.
It is not yet clear what happened to the Qantas double-decker plane, but aviation sources have told ninemsn that the Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau has sent a team to Singapore to investigate the incident.
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