Qantas Jet Engine Fails

KOMPAS.com - A Qantas A380 has been forced to return to Singapore's Changi Airport after pilots were forced to shut down one of its four engines. QF32 was bound for Sydney with 443 passengers and 26 crew on board when the engine failed.

"Qantas flight QF32 was en route from Singapore to Sydney, the number two engine has shut down, so as a precautionary measure we are taking it back to Singapore," a Qantas spokeswoman said.

Qantas said the airliner landed at 11.45am local time. DFAT confirmed the flight had landed safely at Changi Airport and are no passengers or crew have been injured.

"Australian high commission staff are on their way to Changi Airport to assist passengers if required," it said in a statement.

"If you have concerns for the welfare of family and friends on board Qantas flight 32 from Singapore to Sydney, you should first attempt to contact them directly. If you are unable to contact them and still hold concerns for their welfare, you should call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 02 6261 3305 or within Australia on 1300 555 135 (local call cost)."

Six fire engines immediately swarmed around the aircraft as soon is it landed on the tarmac, an AFP reporter at Changi Airport said.

"I can see smoke coming out of it," the reporter said.

"One of the engines on the left wing looks blown off. It is black and has jagged edges."

Indonesian authorities said there had been some sort of explosion over the island of Batam, just south of Singapore, at about 9.15am local time.

The explosion rained debris on a downtown area of Batam. Pictures on local television showed the Qantas logo on some of the debris.

Australian Geoff Reay, who lives on Batam Island, said his neighbours all heard an explosion and ran out on to the street.

"Our little boy goes to [Elsadai School], about 200 metres from where there are bits of the aircraft on the ground," Mr Reay, a former Qantas flight attendant, said.

The debris fell in the suburb of Dutamas, Mr Reay said. A Qantas spokeswoman said there was "no suggestion it's come from our aircraft".

The incident sparked widespread rumours through Twitter that the plane had crashed, which Qantas said were wildly inaccurate.

Indonesian media reports said jet debris had fallen on downtown Batam and pictures on local television appeared to show the Qantas logo on some of it.

Tatang Kurnia, head of Indonesia’s Transportation Safety Board, said the explosion came from a Qantas plane that had just lifted off from Singapore. Kompas, a leading Indonesia newspaper, had reported on its website that it was "suspected that a Qantas plane exploded in the air near Batam".

A Qantas pilot, who did not want to be identified, said engines were routinely shut down on aircraft which fly around the world but "it must have been quite a catastrophic failure if it blew parts off an engine".

Earlier Reuters had reported that Qantas had told CNBC television that a plane had crashed near Singapore and it was an Airbus A380. It later reported that Qantas had denied crash reports and said a plane had experienced  engine trouble.

In a recent similar incident, an engine exploded on a Qantas flight to San Francisco on August 30, with debris tearing holes in the engine cover.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators found all of the engine's turbine blades had either fractured or broken away. The cause of the explosion of the Boeing 747's Rolls Royce RB211 engine is still under investigation.

Qantas shares slumped 15 cents, or 3 per cent, to $2.82 on initial reports of a crash but soon recovered and were recently trading at $2.92.