Qantas grounds A380s after Singapore emergency landing

LONDON. November 4. KAZINFORM The Australian airline Qantas has grounded its six-strong fleet of Airbus A380 airliners after one of the superjumbos made an emergency landing; Kazinform refers to BBC.

Qantas flight QF32 experienced engine trouble shortly after taking off from Singapore on its way to Sydney.

One of the engines exploded with a bang, a passenger told the BBC, and debris was found on an island below.

Singapore Airlines said its A380 flights would be delayed pending technical checks.

Qantas said the plane, with 433 passengers and 26 crew on board, experienced an "engine issue" over western Indonesia shortly after taking off from Singapore at about 1000 (0200 GMT).

"It's a significant engine failure," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said at a news conference.

"We do take our safety reputation and our safety standards unbelievably seriously. And we're not going to take any risks with passenger safety - and as a precaution, we're suspending the flights of the A380 aircraft until we're comfortable that we understand the reasons for this."

No-one was injured during the incident, which ended at Singapore's Changi airport.

Smoke billowed from the aircraft, which aviation experts say is capable of flying on two engines. One of the engines was blackened and its rear casing was missing; Kazinform cites BBC.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version