Interim Report On QF32 Due; Qantas Resumes Limited A380 Services

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) this week will issue a preliminary report that is likely to confirm investigators’ suspicions that oil pipe leaks led to the uncontained failure of a Trent 900 engine during a Qantas Airbus A380 flight Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, the carrier plans to resume limited operations of some A380s, although the investigation will remain open.

Flawed welding led to the oil pipe leaks, which caused a fire and the failure of the turbine disk in the intermediate-pressure turbine, industry officials close to the investigation tell Aviation Week. Rolls-Royce declined to confirm the information, but a new airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Nov. 22 appears to confirm it. The AD calls for more detailed inspections of the Rolls-Royce turbofan. The investigation previously identified an oil fire in the high-pressure/intermediate-pressure structure cavity as a possible cause of the failure.

http://s.noticias-aero.info/QF32InterimReport