A team of four ATSB investigators has commenced the
investigation into the occurrence involving a QANTAS A380 aircraft
that sustained an engine failure shortly after departing Singapore
yesterday, en route to Australia. The investigators arrived in
Singapore overnight and commenced examining the aircraft this
afternoon.
Speaking today in Canberra at a media conference, Mr Ian Sangston,
General Manager Aviation Safety Investigations, said "an
investigation of this complexity can take up to a year to complete.
However, should any critical safety issues emerge, the ATSB will
immediately bring those issues to the attention of the relevant
authorities."
A preliminary factual report will be available by 3 December
2010.
Mr Sangston reported the aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice
recorders have been recovered and returned to Australia. The flight
data recorder was downloaded in Sydney this morning and work is
ongoing to download the remaining recorders. The cockpit voice
recorder will be downloaded in the ATSB's Canberra technical
facilities.
The ATSB team in Singapore is arranging for the damaged engine to
be taken to a local facility for inspection. The aircraft
will also be inspected for other damage.
The ATSB is working with its counterparts, including the Air
Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of Singapore and the
Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) to
coordinate investigation activity. Representatives from the
UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the French Bureau
d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA), Airbus, Rolls Royce and Qantas are
also involved, in accordance with international protocols.
Indonesian representatives are supervising the collection and
preservation of physical evidence on Indonesian territory. Mr
Sangston thanked the Indonesia officials for their cooperation. The
ATSB has quarantined a number of aircraft components for later
technical examination.
The aircraft, operating as QF32 departed Singapore at 0957am local
time. It appears that a number of abnormal engine indications on
the No 2 engine commenced about 4 minutes after takeoff. The engine
shut down at about 1001. The aircraft returned safely to Singapore,
landing at 1147 after reducing its fuel load.
The occurrence, which occurred over Indonesian territory, is being
investigated by the ATSB after being delegated by the Indonesian
NTSC in accordance with international protocols. Further
investigation updates will be published on the ATSB website as
information becomes available.