'Unprecedented' number of failures on ill-fated Qantas A380 flight

news.com.au ^ | 19th November 2010 | Kate Schneider

[Erik Latranyi]

Rolls Royce is in deep doo-doo!

[Paladin2]

We are all extremely fortunate to be alive.

If any one of your ancestors had died prior to successful procreation, you wouldn't be here. Everyone alive has the outcome of ancestor success. What are the odds of that?

[Never on my watch]

“There is probably a one in 100 million chance to have all that go wrong." said Mr. Woodward who gained notoriety recently when he won the lottery and was struck by lightning on the same day. ;o)

[Mears]

Two words.

“Rain Man”

[A.A. Cunningham]

Two words:

Urban legend

[DuncanWaring]

"Definitely with fuel gushing out of the fuel tank there and some very hot components, certainly one that was hot enough to explode an engine, they were very lucky that fuel inside the wing didn't ignite,"

If there'd been a small wire in one of the fuel tanks, however ...

[RayChuang88]

According to MSNBC, the problem stems from defective compressor stages on the Trent 970 engines used on a number of A380 planes. Interestingly, Singapore Airlines--the largest user of the A380--has never reported any Trent 970 engine problems, probably because Singapore Airlines has really strict maintenance procedures.

Rolls-Royce's new-build Trent 970's have the fixed compressor stages, and it appears R-R will have to replace ALL of the engines that were built before they incorporated the updated compressor stages.

[SpaceBar]

Anybody consider jet engine mechanics named mohammed?

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Rolls Royce is in deep doo-doo!

I've been flying RR equipped Gulfstream Jets for almost two decades now, not one glitch beyond the normal wear and tear stuff..

To put this problem into proper perspective one must recall that when Airbus designed the A380 no engine on earth was capable of fitting the needs to lift this sucker.

They demanded aan engine that was super quite under the QC/2 departure and QC/0.5 arrival noise limits, plus it had to develop 40% more thrust than the existing monster engines currently used on the Boeing 777.

RR actually threatened to pull out of the design phase when the Airbus Consortium began pressuring them to meet unrealistic production timetables.

You need to remember that it was Airbus that was pushing everyone...

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

If any one of your ancestors had died prior to successful procreation, you wouldn't be here.

Unless the surviving spouse remarried. What are the odds of that?

[surchris]

Boeing 777 engines much more powerful than those on the Airbus A-380

Found on these aircraft:
•Boeing 777-200
•Boeing 777-200ER
•Boeing 777-200LR
•Boeing 777-300ER
•Boeing 777 Freighter
Introduction: Nov. 1995
Thrust Range: 76,000-115,000 lbs.

Aircraft Profile: Airbus A380
Available with two engine options: the 74,000lb – 84,000lb thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 900, and the 76,500lb – 81,500lb thrust General Electric/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7200, each producing 74,000lb – 84,000lb of thrust.

[surchris]

Two words

Jet Age

;)

[Publius6961]

Bookmark

[Publius6961]

Curiously, you neglected to list the engine that delivers 76,000-115,000 lbs

[Incorrigible]

That reminds me. I better bring my Rolls Royce into the dealer garage for it’s oil change.

[BfloGuy]

I better bring my Rolls Royce into the dealer garage for it’s oil change

Really? My dealer comes to my garage. Just before he pops over to Rush's.

[1 x 7 Twist...]

The wing’s two fuel tanks were punctured and fuel was leaking out, creating a growing imbalance between the left and right sides of the plane.

However the pilots were prevented from pumping fuel forward from tanks in the tail due to electrical problems, which saw the plane become tail heavy.

Safety investigators say that this may have been the greatest risk - if the plane had become too unbalanced it could have stalled and crashed.

A nose heavy airplane flies poorly, a tail heavy airplane flies once.

[DuncanWaring]

GE-90, in its various incarnations.

[DuncanWaring]

Here's a picture of a GE-90 (apparently the -115 variant) hanging off a 747 for flight-test: