QANTAS alleges a design fault in A380 engines

Rejects opportunistic union claims. The plane was only two years old and recently had a heavy maintenance procedure in Germany by a Lufthansa facility -- so maintenance is unlikely to be the problem. Apparently the wing was pierced by debris so the problem was much more dangerous than a loss of power in one of four engines

QANTAS has rejected as "outrageous" union concerns over the outsourcing of maintenance of its aircraft, after the mid-air explosion on one of its A380s.

Qantas has suspended all of its A380 flights across the world while the carrier investigates the cause of the blast in one of the plane's four engines shortly after departing Singapore for Sydney yesterday .

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the cause of the engine failure was still being investigated, but it appeared likely to be a design problem. "It was a significant issue and a significant failure with the engine, and something like this we take very, very seriously," Mr Joyce told Fairfax Radio Network in Melbourne.

"That's why we've made the decision independently to ground the aircraft because we feel that our safety reputation and our focus on safety is our number one priority."

Mr Joyce said the engines had been maintained by manufacturer Rolls Royce since Qantas took possession of the A380s. "This is not an issue with overseas maintenance... "The accusations that somehow we're damaging safety by taking shortcuts on maintenance is just outrageous and it's not true."

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) yesterday said there were serious concerns with the A380 aircraft and called for all six Qantas Airbus A380s to be examined.

ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said safety was a growing concern for Qantas engineers, with continued outsourcing of maintenance work.

Mr Joyce said last year 92 per cent of Qantas' heavy maintenance work was done in Australia, and that figure would be over 85 per cent this year.

Another engine on the plane could not be switched off when the aircraft went to land, which Mr Joyce said was likely to be related to the problem with the No.2 engine that failed.

Mr Joyce said the A380s would remain grounded for "as long as it takes for us to be absolutely sure that the aircraft are going to be safe to fly".

SOURCE