Singapore Airlines to replace engines on three A380s (Roundup)

Nov 10, 2010, 4:06 GMT

Singapore/Sydney - Singapore Airlines on Wednesday said it would replace one or more of the engines on three of its Airbus A380S as a precaution after an engine explosion on a Qantas A380 that forced the superjumbo into an emergency landing.

'Based on further analysis of inspection findings as the investigation into last week's incident involving another operator's Airbus A380 is progressing, Singapore Airlines will be carrying out precautionary engine changes on three A380s,' the airline said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines, which was the first to fly the world's largest passenger plane when the jet began commercial flights in 2007, has a fleet of 11 A380s.

The directive meant the grounding of scheduled Singapore Airlines A380 flights from Melbourne and Sydney as concerns spread about the airworthiness of Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

Passengers boarding a midday flight to Singapore from Melbourne said they had been ordered off their A380 and back to the terminal. News reports also said a third Singapore Airlines superjumbo, in London, had also been ordered to stay on the tarmac.

'We apologize to our customers for flight disruptions that may result, and we seek their understanding,' the airline said in a statement.

Australia's Qantas grounded its A380s last week for checks after the engine explosion on a Sydney-bound plane occurred minutes after it took off from Singapore.

Oil leaks were found on three engines, on A380s in Sydney and Los Angeles, which are to be replaced before a decision is made on putting Qantas' six-plane A380 fleet back into service.

After the Qantas plane was forced into its emergency landing in Singapore Thursday, Singapore ordered an inspection of all the engines on its A380s.

Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa operate Rolls-Royce-powered A380s, but the engines on the fleets are set up with different specifications.

The engines used by Qantas are set up to give more thrust than those fitted to the Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa fleets.

Lufthansa flies three A380s with the Trent 900 engine, which powers 20 of the 37 A380s in service.

Emirates Airline, which operates 13 A380s, and Air France, which has four in service, use the GP7200 engine from Engine Alliance, a joint venture between GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt and Whitney.

Rolls-Royce, in its first public comments on problems with its engines, said in a statement from London that it had made 'good progress' in understanding the cause of the Qantas engine explosion.

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