New A380 oil leak hits Qantas

[markis10]

Todays daily QF bashing:

ANOTHER A380 flown by Australian airline Qantas flew into London on only three engines after an oil leak prompted the pilots to reduce the fourth engine to idle on a flight from Singapore, The Australian reports. It was the second oil problem on an A380 in less than two weeks and sources say the leaks may be the result of a design flaw with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 that allows a fitting to loosen when subjected to vibration.
The latest problem, which happened as Qantas Flight 31 neared Ashgabat in Turkmenistan on February 24, is similar to a partial power loss on a different Qantas A380 near New Delhi, India on February 15.
An engine was also reduced to idle on that flight and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it found the fitting of the external high pressure-intermediate pressure oil line "had less than the required torque."
In the latest incident, the crew detected a reduction in oil in the No. 3 engine and were forced to gradually reduce its thrust.

Read more: New A380 oil leak hits Qantas | News.com.au
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[oz_mark]

I've heard that SQ have had similar issues to this on a couple of flights - so I think Rolls Royce has a bit more work to do.

 

[Nigelinoz]

RR has finally spoken about the ongoing issues with the Trents.
Rolls-Royce speaks out after more Qantas engine problems

After months of saying little in the wake of the engine explosion on Qantas Airbus QF32 last November, Rolls-Royce faced questions at its stand at the Avalon air show

Rolls-Royce Australia Services' chief executive Andrew Dudgeon spoke to Fairfax Media for the first time, defending how the British company handled the fallout from the November 4 mid-air engine explosion on a Qantas A380 carrying 469 people over Batam Island.
Mr Dudgeon, who is the company's local executive engaged in negotiations with Qantas over compensation, said reports that Rolls-Royce already knew it had a problem with the Trent 900 engine were incorrect.
"It's a fallacy to say we knew there was a problem with the engine," Mr Dudgeon said at the company's exhibitors' stand at the airshow. "There was no known problem with the A380 engine."


The problem that caused the uncontained Trent 900 engine explosion on QF32 was unrelated to the oil problem on a Qantas A380 on February 15, en route to London that led to a partial power loss, he said.

 

[UP4014]

Mr Dudgeon better hope it's unrelated.

 

[markis10]

The ATSB has released a report indicating the engines needed modifications:

By the time the November event occurred, there had been 15 engine oil leaks across the A380 fleet worldwide. The engine manufacturer conducted an ongoing investigation into the oil leaks and at the time of writing this report had identified high pipe deflection loads as a significant factor. Subsequent action by the engine manufacturer included modification of the oil pipe clipping arrangement and revised securing methods for the pipe connection and deflector assembly. In addition, trend monitoring of engine oil consumption was enhanced and work continued to develop a new oil pipe design.

Investigation: AO-2011-034 - Engine oil leaks - Airbus A380s, VH-OQG and VH-OQC en route Singapore to London, United Kingdom, 24 February and 3 November 2011