Update: After halting flights yesterday, Singapore Airlines are now putting their A380s back in the skies. A spokeswoman has said that the 11 planes have been checked and are all safe to fly.
Rolls-Royce, Airbus and the Australian government are still investigating what caused the engine damage on the Qantas flight.
Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will examine the plane in Singapore, with a preliminary report on the incident set to be released in 30 days.
Previous: Singapore Airlines has put a stop to all A380 flights following yesterday's forced landing of a Qantas superjumbo.
The move represents a shift from their immediate response to the incident, when it was said that A380 flights were not going to be grounded. Spokesman Nicholas Ionides said, "It is premature at this point to speculate and we will await advice from the aircraft and engine manufacturers as the investigation progresses."
It appears that this advice has come. A new statement from the carrier reveals, "Our engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus have advised us to conduct precautionary technical checks on our A380 aircraft, following today's incident involving another operator’s A380."
A number of airlines are still flying the aircraft. Lufthansa has performed checks on their fleet of three A380s, which use the same engine as Qantas, and have stated they are safe to fly.
Emirates also has 13 A380s in the air and Air France has four. These are believed to be safe as the engines used are manufactured by Engine Alliance.
Rolls-Royce and Airbus are now examining the damaged aircraft. They estimate the cause of the engine failure will be uncovered within a few days. Depending on the findings, all A380 planes may soon be back in the air.
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 1
How come they're flying the planes if no one knows why the Qantas one went down? Sounds like Singapore Airlines have some info we don't...
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