Qantas flight forced to return to Bangkok

23 May 2011

Engine problems aboard a Qantas jet forced its pilots to return to Bangkok Airport shortly after take-off last Friday. A spokesman for the Australian national carrier said one of the engines on the London bound Boeing 747 began vibrating and its temperature rose rapidly.

The spokesman said the pilots turned off the engine and, even though the aircraft could have carried on flying, returned to Bangkok. The spokesman added that the plane and its 308 passengers landed safely at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport shortly after the engine was shut down.

In November 2010, a Qantas Airbus A380 fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines had to make an emergency landing at Singapore Airport after one of them blew up in mid-air. This incident saw Qantas’s A380 fleet grounded while the manufacturer investigated and in some cases replaced the units.

This latest aircraft incident also involved a Rolls-Royce power unit, but the airline spokesman said that this latest problem was probably a result of the maker’s improved monitoring programme. Last Monday, a Cathay Pacific aeroplane landed at Singapore after experiencing problems with its Rolls-Royce engines, which the manufacturer is still probing.

Aircraft engine issues are compounding problems that Qantas is undergoing. High fuel prices, stagnant international business and strike threats by pilots are hitting the airline hard.

Qantas pilots also allege the airline is pressuring them to carry less aviation fuel as improved weather forecasts allow accurate predictions of how much fuel will be used on a flight.

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