Singapore Airlines : SQ : SIA

Singapore Airlines has cleared its Airbus A380 fleet for service after delaying several flights for precautionary checks following the Qantas A380 in-flight engine failure.

Several A380 flights by the Singaporean carrier - on routes to London, Paris, Zurich, Sydney and Tokyo - were held up for six hours or more while the jets were examined.

The checks were advised by Rolls-Royce and Airbus after the Qantas incident which led the Australian airline to ground its A380 fleet.
Singapore Airlines says it has begun resuming flights with the type following the checks. Certain services to Sydney and Melbourne have temporarily been switched to Boeing 777-300s in order to restore the carrier's schedule quickly.

Singapore Airlines va remplacer les moteurs sur trois appareils

Singapore Airlines (SIA) a annoncé mercredi qu'il allait procéder "par précaution" au remplacement des moteurs Rolls Royce Trent 900 de trois de ses Airbus A380, à la suite de l'avarie subie en l'air sur un de ces appareils gros porteurs de la compagnie australienne Qantas.
"Sur la base d'inspections portant sur l'incident de la semaine dernière concernant une autre compagnie utilisant l'Airbus A380, Singapore Airlines va procéder au changement par précaution des moteurs de trois A380", a indiqué la compagnie dans un communiqué.
"Nous présentons nos excuses pour d'éventuelles perturbations des vols prévus et demandons à la clientèle sa compréhension". Une porte-parole de SIA a déclaré à l'AFP que c'est Rolls Royce qui avait conseillé au transporteur singapourien de changer les moteurs Trent 900 après l'apparition de fuites d'huile lors de tests. "Nous avons été avertis par Rolls-Royce que ces trois moteurs en particulier présentaient des signes de fuites d'huile", a déclaré la porte-parole, soulignant qu'il s'agissait d'un problème distinct de celui survenu la semaine dernière sur l'A380 de Qantas.
Les trois appareils sont actuellement à Londres, Sydney et Melbourne en attendant le remplacement de leurs moteurs. SIA n'était pas en mesure de préciser combien de temps ses trois A380 allaient être immobilisés. "C'est vraiment une mesure de précaution, nous ne voulons prendre aucun risque", a souligné la porte-parole.
Le 4 novembre, un A380 de Qantas avait été contraint de revenir sur l'aéroport de Singapour pour un atterrissage d'urgence, après la grave avarie en vol d'un de ses quatre moteurs Rolls-Royce, quelques minutes après son décollage. L'incident de moteur sur l'A380, suivi le lendemain d'une autre avarie sur un moteur Rolls-Royce équipant cette fois un Boeing 747 de Qantas, avait été imputé le lendemain par la compagnie australienne à un "défaut de conception potentiel" du Trent 900, fleuron des réacteurs issus des chaînes de fabrication du groupe britannique.
Lundi, Qantas a prolongé le maintien au sol de ses A380, après avoir détecté des "fuites d'huile" sur plusieurs autres moteurs Trent 900 équipant sa flotte.
Singapore Airlines avait dans un premier temps affirmé n'avoir détecté aucun problème concernant les moteurs Trent 900 équipant ses propres A380, à l'issue d'une série d'inspection.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is changing the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines on three of its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft after inspections.


These aircraft are currently in London, Melbourne and Sydney, and will be brought back to Singapore for the engine changes, says an SIA spokesman. He adds that one powerplant on each of the four-engined aircraft needs to be changed. Only three engines need to be changed in total, he says.

This comes after the Star Alliance carrier conducted checks on its A380 powerplants following last week's uncontained engine failure on a Qantas Airways A380 Trent 900 engine, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Singapore. Qantas has changed two Trent 900 engines on its A380s and is continuing with inspections of its remaining Trent 900s.
"Based on further analysis of inspection findings as the investigation into last week's incident involving another operator's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] A380 is progressing, Singapore Airlines will be carrying out precautionary engine changes on three A380s," says the spokesman.

The spokesman did not specify the reason for the engine changes. However, sources say that SIA has been checking for oil leakage in IP/HP turbine areas and IP/HP blades, for damage and oil leakage on air transfer tubes and cavities, and has been checking the bearing chamber for oil.

He was unable to say how long the aircraft will be grounded as a result of the engine changes. However, the airline says that there may be some flight disruptions as a result of this move.
The spokesman adds that the engine changes do not affect the other eight Trent 900-powered A380s in the carrier's fleet. "Any further checks that may be recommended by the manufacturers will of course be done, and in the meantime we continue with our regular routine checks," he says.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is changing the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines on three of its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft after inspections.


These aircraft are currently in London, Melbourne and Sydney, and will be brought back to Singapore for the engine changes, says an SIA spokesman. He adds that one powerplant on each of the four-engined aircraft needs to be changed. Only three engines need to be changed in total, he says.

This comes after the Star Alliance carrier conducted checks on its A380 powerplants following last week's uncontained engine failure on a Qantas Airways A380 Trent 900 engine, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Singapore. Qantas has changed two Trent 900 engines on its A380s and is continuing with inspections of its remaining Trent 900s.
"Based on further analysis of inspection findings as the investigation into last week's incident involving another operator's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] A380 is progressing, Singapore Airlines will be carrying out precautionary engine changes on three A380s," says the spokesman.

The spokesman did not specify the reason for the engine changes. However, sources say that SIA has been checking for oil leakage in IP/HP turbine areas and IP/HP blades, for damage and oil leakage on air transfer tubes and cavities, and has been checking the bearing chamber for oil.

He was unable to say how long the aircraft will be grounded as a result of the engine changes. However, the airline says that there may be some flight disruptions as a result of this move.
The spokesman adds that the engine changes do not affect the other eight Trent 900-powered A380s in the carrier's fleet. "Any further checks that may be recommended by the manufacturers will of course be done, and in the meantime we continue with our regular routine checks," he says.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) aims to return three [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] A380s to service within the next 48 hours, after the aircraft was pulled out of the fleet for engine changes.

The Star Alliance carrier has carried out "precautionary engine changes" for three [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] powerplants on the aircraft, says an SIA spokesman.
The three A380s were brought back to Singapore yesterday from Melbourne, Sydney and London for the engine replacements, after oil leakage was reportedly found in the engines during inspections.
SIA's spokesman says the situation has "moved on a lot since then" and the airline aims to return the three aircraft to service within the next 48 hours or less.

The carrier's engine checks follow the 4 November uncontained failure of a Qantas Airways Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] shortly after take-off on a Singapore-Sydney flight. Qantas' A380 fleet has remained grounded since then, and indications point to an oil leakage in the engine as the cause behind the failure.
SIA is continuing checks on its fleet in compliance with an emergency airworthiness directive on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 issued yesterday by the EASA.

"The ongoing precautionary inspections enable the safe and continuous operation of the fleet. These checks follow earlier one-time inspections, which resulted in some engine changes as a precautionary measure. Singapore Airlines has been, and will be, in full compliance with the directive," says SIA's spokesman.

In the meantime, the airline will deploy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and 777 aircraft on some services operated with A380s previously to minimise flight disruptions.
The changes will affect the airline's flights between Singapore and Sydney and Melbourne until 17 November.
"While the situation remains fluid, no other A380 services are affected at this point in time," says the carrier, adding that it is also planning to mount supplementary flights to and from Sydney and Melbourne if needed.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) a repris l'exploitation de deux de ses trois Airbus A380 immobilisés la semaine dernière, après avoir remplacé les moteurs Rolls-Royce où des fuites d'huile avaient été détectées, a indiqué la compagnie lundi.


© 2010 AFP

Rolls-Royce has advised airlines that up to 34 Trent 900 engines may have to be replaced, according to airline sources in Sydney, who noted that Singapore Airlines may have to replace up to 20 engines in its fleet of 11 Airbus A380s, and Qantas may have to replace 14 engines.

........Qantas told ATW it is still working through the issue with Rolls-Royce, while a Singapore Airlines spokesman said the airline is “working with Rolls-Royce on an agreed program, which will cover the replacement of a module in our A380 engines.”

Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy on Friday told Australian media and ATW in Sydney that new-build Rolls-Royce engines had the required modification, understood to be a bearing box, but older engines did not. As of press time, the engine maker had not officially advised its airline customers of the upgrade or a fix for older engines. Rolls has not responded to ATW requests for comment or clarification.

Normal ! Pas surprenant, quand on voit qu'un module devient un moteur tout entier, entre les mains de Geoff THOMAS !

At the briefing, Leahy said that Rolls is “constantly upgrading its engines” and that the new engines had a modification relating to the oil leak problem. “The engines on the production line are to a new-build standard and do not have the [oil] problem,” Leahy said.

• RR déclare, et émet des Bulletins de Service (confirmé par un "AD" des Autorités compétentes)
  
  

"Rolls Royce in talks to raid incomplete A380's, to recover engines for replacement of engines deemed to require module changes , owing to defective component".

• faire une dépose-et-repose en une seule fois / opération. ......,
  
• remplacer, en atelier de réparation, le module 'infecté' par ladite composante, .....
  
• insérer le moteur 'remis à niveau' (avec les pièces qui guérissent le problème) dans le circuit MRO / TotalCare, ....
  
• dédier les futurs "new-builds" en "première monte" aux avions qui pourront en être équipés, .... tout en évitant des retards dans les livraisons des avions, notamment ceux qui auraient fait l'objet du "projet cannibalisation" !
  

RR s'apprête à 'cannibaliser' plusieurs A380 en cours de construction, afin de fournir rapidement plus d'une douzaine de moteurs à SIA, à LHA & à Qantas.

e] Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Thursday that it will constantly inspect Rolls-Royce engines powering its Airbus A380 superjumbos and replace them if advised to do so by the manufacturers.

© 2010 AFP

German flag-carrier [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is to undertake another engine change on its first [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft, this time as a direct result of the Qantas powerplant incident earlier this month.

Lufthansa has yet to determine from where it will source the additional [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], having already exhausted its spare engine reserves with a separate engine change - although for a reason unrelated to the Qantas mishap.

The airline will only confirm that it is to make a single engine change, and points out that it will keep the aircraft in service until the swap by following the precautionary checks imposed by Rolls-Royce and the European Aviation Safety Agency.

"It is not a problem to fly this A380," says a spokesman for the carrier. "It is safe to fly."

Lufthansa will not identify the aircraft involved but a source familiar with the situation has informed ATI that the arframe is the same one - serial number 38, registered D-AIMA, its oldest A380 - which underwent the previous, routine, engine change.

But the source says the plan to obtain the engine is "not concrete". The airline has a fifth A380 on the production line, due for delivery next year, and the source indicates that this jet may have to be "cannibalised" to provide the powerplant.

As a result, the source adds, the airline is "not sure" how long it might have to wait to secure an extra Trent 900.
Spare engines have become a scarce resource since the uncontained Trent 900 failure on a Qantas A380 on 4 November. All three operators of Trent 900-powered examples have committed to changing a number of powerplants since the incident.

Air[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] says it has yet to determine the number of engines which might need changing among the 80 on the global fleet of 20 Trent-equipped jets.

But the airframer says that Rolls-Royce is to "supply the airlines directly with any replacement engines which they agree are needed", which could be sourced from Rolls-Royce's own production line, Airbus assembly lines or carriers' spare stocks.

"Airbus is supporting Rolls-Royce and the customers when requested to do so, by demounting engines from the
customer's production aircraft in Toulouse and Hamburg," adds a spokesman for Airbus.

Mais il est , pour le moins, curieux, que l'on semble passer sous silence le fait que, malgré les accusations lancées avec véhémence par Qantas, contre RR (et Airbus), il y ait des éléments qui donnent l'impression que Qantas ait négligé les inspections qu'il avait le devoir de faire !

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]’s woes over the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]A380 engine blow-out mounted on Thursday after Airbus, the superjumbo jet’s manufacturer, said it would seek “full financial compensation” from the British engine maker for the potential disruption it faces.
The warning suggests Rolls-Royce could face a more serious financial impact than previously thought as a result of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]that forced a Qantas A380 to make an emergency landing at Singapore shortly after take-off..........

• il est un peu injuste de dire que Qantas a poussé systématiquement trop fort au décollage de ses A380 ; il faut tenir compte des itinéraires transpacifiques, et d'autres du même genre, car la distance à franchir, en moyenne, est presque le double des trajets de SIA ; l'emport bien plus important en carburant, qui donne un TOW ("Take-Off Weight") bien plus lourd, et nécessite, souvent, de "pousser plus fort" ; il faut être objectif ;
  
• objectivement, il arrive, tout de même, paraît-il, que les pilotes des A380 de Qantas, poussent, parfois, trop fort ;
  
• 
  
• il n'est pas juste de dire que Qantas n'a rien fait du tout en ce qui concerne les inspections des RR Trent 900, sous les "Service Bulletins" de RR, devenus AD ;
  
• il serait vrai que certains disent, sans en démordre, que Qantas ait été quelque peu négligent, tout de même, dans sa façon d'aborder et de faire les inspections, ... d'autant plus que les Service Bulletins et les AD concernés misaient sur les inspections, car lesdits documents, notamment les AD, stipulaient (c'est indéniable / irréfutable) qu'il s'agissait d'un "No Modification Order" (là, ... confirmation de RR) ;
  
• 
  
• la Communication de RR n'aurait pas pu être 'meilleure', en raison de l'établissement et du prompt démarrage d'une enquête officielle ; sous les contraintes de cette procédure, il n'y a pas les souplesses que nous aimerions tous ;
  
• les règles des procédures internationales, le droit (international et local) et la jurisprudence internationale et les codes "Best Practice" des Autorités de Tutelle, .... doivent tous être respectés, sans exception, ni entorse; RR les a respectés impeccablement;
  
• les Français devraient se souvenir de l'mpeccable comportement du BEA pendant l'affaire d'AF (Rio-Paris), .... impeccable malgré toute la souffrance des familles et proches des victimes, et les âneries racontées par les media français, et les "Usual Suspects", scribouillards que nous connaissons, et qui sévissent sur divers Forums "d'ailleurs", ... que nous connaissons, aussi (NB : mon interlociuteur es français, ..... ; précision pour les divers Français -- et il y en a -- qui croient que les Français seuls détiennent et disent la vérité ! ) ;
  
• 
  
• RR était paraît-il, déjà en train de préparer une composante améliorée, destinée à remplacer celle actuellement en place, et qui est dit se trouver parmi les éléments faisant partie de la "root cause" (la "root cause" est une affaire compliquée ; il y a de nombreuses subtilités, qui seront prises en compte par les enquêteurs ; pour des raisons évidentes, ces éléments ne sont pas communiqués aux media à ce stade ;
  
• 
  
• RR aurait, donc, déjà un "fix", prêt à être implémenté, .... mais il serait nécessaire d'effectuer quelques autres tests dans le cadre de l'enquête, accompagnés d'inspections, avant de donner le feu vert à RR (on peut supposer) ; mais il est dit que ce n'est pas le fix qui doit subir ces tests :
  
• 
  
• de ce fait, certains responsables, d'EADS / Airbus, et des Cies. Clientes, qui sont tous informés (au niveau des grandes ligfnes, ... certainement), et les media (bien sûr) devraient cesser immédiatement d'exagérer, .... notamment, les répercussions sur les plannings de production et de livraisons ;
  
• 
  
• Lufthansa a bien dit :

  "It is not a problem to fly this A380," says a spokesman for the carrier. "It is safe to fly."

  ;
  
• Ce postn principalement sur SIA , est pertinent :
  
• Lien :
  [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
  
  SIA to take cue from Airbus, Rolls-Royce on A380 engines
  SINGAPORE, Nov 18, 2010 (AFP)

  Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Thursday that it will constantly inspect Rolls-Royce engines powering its Airbus A380 superjumbos and replace them if advised to do so by the manufacturers.
  
  2010 AFP

  
  La sagacité et l'honnêteté de SIA !
  
  LH nous informe que les inspections effectuées jusqu'ici n'ont révélé aucune anomalie. Peut-être que le "fix" évoqué, il y a longtemps, est incorporé dans les RR Trent 900 des A380 livrés à cette Cie. ?
  
• .....................................
  

Qantas remains resolute in its decision to keep its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] fleet grounded until Rolls-Royce produces a "fix" for the faulty [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine component that caused uncontained failure of the entire power unit.

The Australian flag carrier says in a formal statement: "Qantas is continuing the forensic inspection of its Trent 900 engines in line with all airworthiness directive and R-R requirements. We will not re-commence A380 operations until we are 100% confident that it is safe and appropriate to do so."
Informally, Qantas has explained: "Qantas has grounded its A380 fleet and will not operate its existing fleet until a Rolls-Royce fix is in place."

Meanwhile, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Singapore Airlines, the other current operators of R-R-powered A380s, are continuing to fly their aircraft according to instructions issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, which permits operation subject to a strict engine inspection regime.

A problem the A380 operators face is that there are insufficient spare engines to replace those that inspections revealed needed repair. R-R and all three airlines are reluctant to be specific about numbers in a situation that is subject to change, but Lufthansa is known to have replaced one Trent 900 for a reason unrelated to the QF32 event, and another for a related reason.

Singapore Airlines is known to have taken three engines off-wing, and this is believed to be related. While Qantas retains its no-fly policy, and is known to have removed three powerplants, the number of its A380 engines that are unserviceable is, at least in the short term, irrelevant to it.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] says it is working hard to find Trent 900s from a number of sources including its own assembly line, where it could de-mount engines from future A380 deliveries to each of the three airlines and deliver them to their engineering bases.

• le problème a été très exagéré;
  
• le motoriste dit pouvoir "s'organiser pour qu'il n'y ait aucun risque concret de retards dans les livraisoins des appareils, sans que RR ait été contacté sur le sujet par ceux qui auraient dû le contacter, et fermer leur clapet avant d'avoir contacté RR.
  

In the past seven days the "Plane Talking" blog posted on its websit a series of leaked photographs of the damage to the Qantas A380 airframe. It was already known that the damage had been extensive, but the photographs, taken by Airbus engineers working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as part of the investigation process, emphasised how extensive the damage had been.

By default they also show that the A380 has an impressive degree of damage-tolerance. Apparently to emphasise this, the day the photographs went up on the web, Airbus sent a telex to all A380 operators essentially to describe what systems the Qantas crew still had available to them to bring the aircraft back safely to land.
More on the Qantas A380 engine failure

Il est grand temps de commencer à tirer la postif dans cet incident !

L'Agence européenne de la sécurité aérienne (EASA) a décidé de supprimer l'une des étapes de l'inspection supplémentaire des moteurs des A380 qu'elle avait requise au lendemain la grave avarie survenue sur l'un des avions de la compagnie australienne Qantas.

© 2010 AFP

Emirates, the biggest operator of Airbus A380s, said the engine explosion last week on Qantas is an "enormously big wake-up call" to avoid another incident that would deter passengers from the world's largest passenger jet.
........

• y compris l'incident sur A380 d'Emirates, allégué avoir été découvert au sol (RU : LHR), après l'atterrissage, et avant le redécollage, et ...
  
• résultant en le vol "non-revenue" / "ferry", avec décollage, en fin de compte, sur seulement trois moteurs,
  
• avec, pour résultat, le fait d'éviter les statistiques de "(engine) despatch availability" / 'disponibilité-moteur au départ /aux porte de départ', et....
  
• d'éviter la réparation sur sol britannique (réparation / l'opération dépose-repose moteur effectuée au bercail, à Dubai, par les services MRO locaux ..., ....
  
• et, par là, permettant à Emirates et au moteur / motoriste d'éviter toute intervention des autorités de tutelle "d'ailleurs", ....
  

• il s'agissait d'une pompe de réservoir (BP, donc), .... possible, bien sûr ;
  
• le moteur n'a subi aucun IFSD (possible, aussi, ... mais de fait que dit la télémétrie, et que fait-on des témoignages 'objectifs', non directement réfutés, qui disent bien le contraire.
  

• entre Emirates et AF, le nombre d'incidents est bien supérieur à celui lié aux RR Trent 900, dans l'exploitation des Cies. ayant choisi ce moteur (et dont nous savons tous, selon les faits publiés, qui n'ont pas pu être masqués, que celles qui ont appliqué les instructions d'inspection (impératives pour l'opérateur, bien entendu, ... impératives sans concession), sous les "RR Service Bulletins" devenus AD,
  
• 
  
• et, bien entendu, le 'Cahier des Charges' (contractuel, impératvement contractuel),
  
• 
  
• n'ont pas eu d'ennuis significatifs.
  
  

:roll:

"And if we get lumped together then we will have to take some kind of action," he said. "I hope it won't come to that."
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

• il est évident que Qantas n'avait pas respecté les instructions d'inspection, que l'opérateur doit impérativement observer et exécuter, sous les "RR Service Bulletins" devenus AD, .... AD dont certains hauts responsables de Qantas ont déclaré / avoué ouvrtement, ... publiquement, .... qu'ils ne savaient pas s'il s'agissait d'un (véritable) AD ;
  
• 
  
• il y a des spécialistes en MRO, qui ont accès à l'inspection physique des moteurs RR Trent 900 des A380 de Qantas, ainsi qu'à toute la télémétrie du "health monitoring" desdits moteurs, et qui savent interpréter la télémétrie, ..... qui disent formellement que "Les pilotes Qantas poussent trop fort et ne respectent pas le Cahier des Charges du motoriste, RR, et ses procédures", .... ensemble qui constitue une base contractuelle d'exploitation des moteurs, .. que l'opérateur doit impérativement respecter.
  

The disruptions may have cost Qantas A$60 million ($58 million) in lost sales and costs such as chartering planes, most of which it will likely be able to recoup from Rolls-Royce, UBS AG analyst Simon Mitchell said in a Nov. 23 note to clients.

Joyce said the same day it was “too early” to say whether the airline will seek compensation from the engine-maker or how much. Rolls-Royce officials in London didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

• spécialistes en MRO, qui ont accès à l'inspection physique des moteurs RR Trent 900 des A380 de Qantas, ainsi qu'à toute la télémétrie du "health monitoring" desdits moteurs, et qui savent interpréter la télémétrie, ..... qui disent formellement que "Les pilotes Qantas poussent trop fort et ne respectent pas le Cahier des Charges du motoriste, RR, et ses procédures", .... ensemble qui constitue une base contractuelle d'exploitation des moteurs, .. que l'opérateur doit impérativement respecter.
  

ATSB Recommends New Trent 900 Inspections

Australian safety regulators say operators of Airbus A380s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines should conduct a fresh round of engine inspections due to the discovery of a potential flaw in an oil feed pipe.

The latest recommendation was prompted by new discoveries during the examination of the Trent 900 that suffered an uncontained failure during a Qantas flight from Singapore on Nov. 4. The discovery of the oil pipe problem “appears to provide a more definitive explanation for the [Nov. 4] engine failure,” Qantas says.

According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, experts at a Rolls-Royce facility in the U.K. found fatigue cracking within a stub pipe that feeds oil into the high pressure/intermediate pressure bearing structure. This was caused by misaligned counter-boring within the pipe during the manufacturing process, which resulted in thinning of the pipe wall.

The ATSB says the thinning pipe wall could lead to “an elevated risk of fatigue crack initiation and growth, oil leakage and potential catastrophic engine failure from a resulting oil fire.”

It was already known that an oil fire was the likely root cause of the original Qantas engine failure.
This new finding and resulting recommendation was issued just a day before the ATSB is due to release its preliminary report on the Nov. 4 uncontained failure. Qantas grounded all of its six A380s straight after the incident, and has since returned two to service. Engine inspections have already required the replacement of a number of A380 engines.
Qantas says it will now conduct “further, more detailed one-off inspections” of its Trent 900s due to the ATSB warning and discussions with Rolls.

The ATSB recommends that the new inspections be conducted within two flight cycles, compared to the 20-cycle inspection requirement issued earlier by EASA.
The carrier says its two operational A380s will be inspected at the Qantas Jet Base in Sydney on the afternoon of Dec. 2 (local time).

• les inspections , qui n'avaient pas été faites, ou insuffisamment faites (contrairement à ce qui a bien été fait chez SIA et Lufthansa, soit les autres Cies. concernées, .... et qui n'ont pas eu les mêmes ennusi que Qantas, .... loin de là ! ),
  
• auraient pu être effectuées à cette base "Qantas Jet Base" ! N'importe qui peut tirer ses conclusions !
  

So far, Qantas does not believe that the inspections will lead to more international disruptions, although it notes that contingencies will be put in place just in case.

Separately, Qantas says it has begun talks with Rolls-Royce regarding compensation for the cost involved in the A380 groundings. The airline says it will “also consider legal options.”

With this in mind, Qantas has filed a statement of claim with the Federal Court of Australia, which will ensure it can pursue legal action against Rolls “if a commercial settlement is not possible.”

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Recommends New Trent 900 Inspections&channel=comm

• dans un contexte, tel que celui de l'incident du RR Trent 900 sur l'A380,
  
• les discussions commerciales ne déboucheraient pas sur un accord mutuellement acceptable aux parties concernées (Qantas et RR).
  

Rolls-Royce reputation dented by reticence

By Peter Marsh and Pilita Clark

Published: & Last updated: December 3 2010 00:43

Clarifying details about the oil feed problem that caused the uncontained Rolls-Royce Trent 900 failure on a Qantas Airbus A380 in November, the engine manufacturer says: "It is not true that we knew about a problem in the A and B versions of the engine and went on to correct it in the C version. There has been no design change relevant to this failure between A, B and C versions of the engine."

R-R adds that the C version is not, however, vulnerable to the ame type of failure, but the company refused to describe the modification that made the C version more robust in this respect.

On the general situation regarding the future of the engines found to be at risk, R-R says it knows it has definitely found the fault.....

....... that caused the uncontained failure, namely a fatigue-induced crack in a stub-pipe that feeds oil into the intermediate compressor bearings. An internal oil fire resulted, leading to the uncontained engine failure which also seriously damaged the airframe.

R-R says it has addressed the problem through inspecting all the Trent 900s in service, and instituting a programme that involves "replacing the relevant module". The company would not say whether the module referred to is the stub pipe itself, or an associated component that caused the stress that led to fatigue cracking in the stub pipe.
Meanwhile R-R points out that only Qantas elected to ground its A380 fleet. Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa did not do so, but chose to continue operations following prescribed engine checks.

Exactement ! Et maintenant les projecteurs seront braqués sur les éléments de télémétrie (de l'exploitation des A380 de Qantas) et de leur interprétation !

Dès maintenant, les communications de RR continueront à venir, ... mais elles pourraient continuer à être rares, .... et , probablement, fermes, courtoises, précises, et très percutantes, s'il le fallait, et quand il le faudrait !

Qantas has made clear that it is not happy with Rolls-Royce's handling of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine failure crisis, and prepared the way for court action against the engine manufacturer.

The airline says it will take legal action unless the two parties can agree a settlement over losses resulting from grounding of its six A380s after the uncontained failure of a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on 4 November. This failure forced a Qantas A380 to make an emergency landing at Singapore, the airframe having received considerable damage from high-energy escaping engine fragments.

On 2 December the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) provided more insight into the issues behind the failure, and recommended an additional one-off inspection within two flight cycles. This extra inspection requirement was advised following an examination, at R-R's Derby plant, of the failed engine and others which, during the initial inspection regime, showed evidence of the same problem.

Industry sources say that the problem affects only the "A mod" and "B mod" Trent 900 variants. The latest variant, the "C mod", is not subject to the latest findings. This appears to indicate that R-R identified the fault and fixed it on the latest engine variant.

Totalement faux ! Ce sont des conclusions infondées ! Un 'procès d'intention', que Qantas ferait mieux d'éviter ! Mieux vaut connaître les faits, et la signification des libellés A,B & C ! Mieux vaut éviter de sauter vers les conclusions, sans savoir ! Il ne faut pas jacasser sans savboir ! Les sentiments n'intéressent personne de sensé dans ce cas, ou dans ce genre de cas ! Le retour de manivelle risque d'être désagréable pour ceux qui interprètent mal les éléments, en lançant de fausses accusations, et en faisant des allégations infondées !

The first Trent 900 that [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had to change was an early variant, but it is not known precisely when R-R applied the modifications, and customers have become increasingly unhappy with the way the manufacturer has handled the entire incident.

Sources say that R-R's chief executive John Rose has visited Singapore and other Asian countries to try to explain the situation to both existing and future A380 operators. However, the carriers are making it clear that they expect the engine manufacturer to be more open about the problem.

In the first public details about the likely causes of the 4 November incident, the ATSB says that there was "fatigue cracking" in a stub pipe that feeds oil into the high-pressure/intermediate pressure bearing structure.
This led to an oil leakage, and subsequently an oil fire and the engine failure, it explains, adding: "While the analysis of the engine failure is ongoing, it has been identified that the leakage of oil into the HP/IP bearing structure buffer space, and a subsequent oil fire within that area, was central to the engine failure and IP turbine disc liberation event."

The ATSB statement continues: "Further examination of the cracked area has identified the axial misalignment of an area of counter-boring within the inner diameter of the stub pipe; the misalignment having produced a localised thinning of the pipe wall on one side.

The area of fatigue cracking was associated with the area of pipe wall thinning."

Qantas and Singapore Airlines grounded their A380s as a result.

SIA resumed services soon after the European Aviation Safety Agency issued guidelines for additional inspections. Qantas restarted A380 flights on 27 November.

After discussions with Qantas, R-R and Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the ATSB has now recommended a more detailed one-off inspection of Trent 900 engines. These should be conducted within two flight cycles, and supplement the 20-cycle inspection mandated by EASA after the first incident.
The findings apply to all "relevant" Trent 900 variants operated worldwide, so SIA and Lufthansa are also affected. "We have begun the inspections and are complying with the recommendations, which are intended to ensure the continued safe operation of the fleet," says SIA.

Qantas does not expect any additional impact on international services, but says that it "will determine any further response after it has finalised the inspection regime and consulted with both regulators and the manufacturer".