QANTAS has started a new round of tests on its A380s as per a safety recommendation and an airworthiness directive issued today. Qantas was quick to quell any concerns for flight safety and said the inspections were in line with its safety-first approach.
No international services are expected to be disrupted, but Qantas said, it had contingency plans in place if needed.
The directive issued by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau stated that the oil leak that led to a fire inside the Trent 900 engine was due to fatigue cracking in an unevenly bored “stub pipe” feeding oil into the high pressure/intermediate pressure bearing structure. The uneven boring during the manufacturing process caused one side of the filler tube to be thinner than the other and this resulted in the fatigue cracking and subsequent leak.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said: “Qantas engineers will be looking for any sign of the wall of the tube being out of tolerance and reduced in thickness, which could cause the tube to crack and leak oil.”