Qantas are on the rebound with the 747-400 incident at Changi on Thursday, saying they will not ground that fleet.
The fleet runs Rolls Royce’s older RB211 engines, and to quote the Qantas CEO:
“We’ve seen in-flight shut-downs take place before. They are a liability issue and not a safety issue if they are contained”
“The engine on the 747 is an engine we’ve been operating for over thirty years. It’s an engine that we have a lot of experience on. The engines on the A380 are new engines and because they’re new we are obviously very cautious about the operation of that aircraft”
A spare 747-400 has been sent to Singapore as a relief aircraft, and also carrying a spare engine underwing to allow the stricken 747-400 to be repaired and sent home.
