Australia's Qantas suspends A380 flights

張運興
Xinhua, November 4, 2010

Qantas Airways A-380 passenger plane QF32 with its partially damaged engine sits on the tarmac after making an emergency landing at Changi airport in Singapore November 4, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)?

Australia's Qantas Airways suspended all of its A380 aircraft service after one of its A380 jumbo jets made a dramatic emergency landing in Singapore, the carrier's chief executive Alan Joyce announced on Thursday.

He said none of the 433 passengers and 26 crew on board was injured when the engine of the Sydney-bound QF32 flight exploded over Indonesia, forcing it to turn back on Thursday.

The explosion occurred over the Indonesian island of Batam shortly after QF32 took off from Singapore's Changi Airport on Thursday morning.

Joyce said the passengers had left the aircraft and would spend the night in hotel accommodation as the investigation took place.

"We will suspend those A380 services until we are completely confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met," he told media in Sydney.

"... it's too early to speculate and will involve us doing a detailed investigation with the manufacturer Airbus and the manufacturer of the engine Rolls Royce," he said.

Joyce said this particular aircraft was the first A380 for Qantas and was bought two years ago.

He said the airline did not have previous concerns about the engines.

"We will be accommodating passengers in hotels, making sure they're looked after appropriately and we will be using the rest of our fleets to accommodate passengers on appropriate flights going forward," said Joyce.