URL:http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/oil-pipe-fault-led-to-qantas-fire-say-investigators-20101203-18ju6.html?skin=text-only

             Oil pipe fault led to Qantas fire, say investigators

   Date: December 04 2010
   Andrew Heasley and Matt O'Sullivan

   HARROWING details from air-safety investigators about the engine
   explosion on QF32 last month and new revelations about Qantas's
   damages claim are intensifying pressure on British jet-engine maker
   Rolls-Royce.

   It also emerged yesterday that Qantas has claimed that it will be
   ''uncommercial'' to fly its A380s between Australia and the US while
   engine-thrust restrictions from Rolls-Royce remain in place.

   It means the superjumbos will be able to carry only 80 passengers
   instead of the usual 450.

   The airline has made the claim in documents lodged in the Federal
   Court against Rolls-Royce, which list the guarantees that the
   manufacturer gave as far back as 2000 about the Trent 900 engines.

   The Australian Transport Safety Bureau yesterday handed down its first
   official account of the explosion on QF32, finding an oil fire inside
   one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines caused a heavy turbine disc
   to disintegrate and burst through its casing, severely damaging the
   aircraft and its systems.

   In the past 48 hours, investigators have found a suspect oil stub pipe
   that was incorrectly made cracked, leading to leaking oil.

   ''Essentially, it was a manufacturing defect, or a potential
   manufacturing defect, in oil pipes in a number of Trent 900 series
   engines,'' the bureau's chief commissioner, Martin Dolan, said.

   ''The aircraft would not have arrived safely in Singapore without the
   focused and effective action of the flight crew.''

   Five minutes after take-off on November 4, the thrust from QF32's
   number-two engine started to fluctuate, and about 10 seconds later it
   exploded.

   High velocity shrapnel tore through wiring and hydraulic lines to
   flight systems, knocked out the plane's satellite communications and
   caused a fuel leak.

   The damage triggered a barrage of alarms in the cockpit that took
   pilots almost an hour to respond to, investigators found.

   The plane was overweight by 50 tonnes when it attempted to land in
   Singapore as damage to the fuel system meant the crew could not
   jettison fuel.

   The flight computer indicated that the pilots could not apply maximum
   braking until the nose wheel was on the runway.

   That left pilots with the prospect of being unable to stop the plane
   within the length of the runway at Changi Airport, raising the
   possibility of an aerodynamic stall if the plane came in to land too
   slowly, or a runway overrun if it came in too fast.

   After the autopilot function faltered, the pilot in command, Richard
   de Crespigny, elected to fly the stricken aircraft in manually from
   1000 feet.

   He managed to get the main wheels down on the runway, the damaged
   front wheels down six seconds later and threw the No. 3 engine into
   maximum reverse thrust, pulling up the aircraft on the runway with
   just 150 metres to spare.

   But the pilots could not shut down the No. 1 engine using either the
   emergency shut-off or inbuilt fire extinguishers as fuel continued to
   leak out, in the vicinity of hot brakes.

   The findings come a day after Qantas was granted the right to sue
   Rolls-Royce for damages - believed to top more than $100 million -
   under the Trade Practices Act if it cannot reach a commercial
   settlement.

   In a statement of claim released yesterday, Qantas has alleged that
   Rolls-Royce told it in 2000 and 2001 that the Trent 900 engines could
   take off using 76,000 pounds of thrust and had ''built in thrust
   flexibility'' to power heavier superjumbos.

   But it said advice from Rolls-Royce last month to operate the engines
   at a reduced thrust meant it would be ''uncommercial for Qantas'' to
   fly between Australia and LA because the planes could carry just 80
   passengers, compared to the usual load of ''up to 450 passengers plus
   freight''.

   Even the latest engines to be modified by Rolls-Royce - known as the
   ''B'' and ''C'' versions - will not be able to be used on the LA route
   until the manufacturer and regulators lift the limitations on the
   thrust settings.

   Qantas has been forced to use its ageing 747 jumbos on the LA route
   since it grounded its A380 fleet on November 4. Last week it put back
   into service two A380s on the Australia-London route after engines on
   the aircraft were changed.

   Qantas has claimed that written advice from Rolls-Royce in 2000 and
   2001 was ''misleading or deceptive'' because the engines it bought
   contained a defect.

   The airline said it was also told that the A380s powered by the Trent
   900s would be able to be ''operated regularly and reliably on Qantas'
   existing international routes ... with a profitable payload and
   without the engines having to be replaced at any point before the end
   of the projected useful engine life''.

   Rolls Royce declined to comment on Qantas's legal action but said that
   the safety bureau's findings were consistent with its recent public
   statements.