Qantas A380 Sustained Worse Damage than First Thought
Multiple systems on the aircraft failed; disaster was only narrowly avoided.
Nov. 15, 2010— -- The exploded engine was scary enough. But in the days following the emergency landing of the Qantas A380 in Singapore, it has become clear just how dangerous the situation was. Multiple systems on the aircraft failed and a disaster was only narrowly avoided.
Rarely had so much flying expertise been assembled in one cockpit. A training pilot was sitting behind Captain Richard de Crespigny, who was completing his annual flight test. Sitting next to them was a third captain whose job was to supervise the training pilot. Together, the Airbus A380 operated by Australia's Qantas Airways had a total of 100 years of flying experience sitting in its cockpit.
Four minutes after takeoff from Singapore, that accumulated expertise was suddenly in great demand. At an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), engine two of the double-decker aircraft exploded. The loud bang of the detonation had hardly faded away before 53 error messages appeared on the monitors.
Upon reading the matter-of-fact messages, the five pilots realized immediately how serious the situation was. Kerosene was leaking from two of the 12 fuel tanks, which meant that the plane could catch fire at any moment.
"It was unbelievably stressful. But in a situation like that, you have no choice but to keep on going," says Richard Woodward. The captain knows what he is talking about. He also flies the A380 for Qantas, is the vice president of the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) and has looked after the crew since the near-catastrophe almost two weeks ago. "The crew has dealt with this situation extraordinarily well," Woodward reports. "They're like horseback riders who, after a fall, are eager to get back on their horses."
Failed to Activate
The men have given him their accounts of those dramatic moments in the air. There were no warnings before the engine exploded -- no change in oil pressure, no unusual vibrations, nothing. When the explosion occurred, the captain quickly pressed an emergency button that activates an automatic extinguishing system when there is an engine fire. But the system failed to activate. "It was clear to him at that point that there must have been more damage," says Woodward.
