Rolls-Royce Containing engine failure, Nov 13th 2010 P64 N2P61 ロールス ロイス航空機エンジン
Passengers on Quantas flight QF32 on November 4th will have breathe a sigh of relief when their Airbus A380 touched down after suffering a potential devastating engine failure shortly after take-off from Singapore. As accidents go, this one ended well, with the pilots making a safe if slightly fast landing.
Big jets are designed to survive the failure of one engine, even during take-off, when the risk of a crash is greatest. In some cases engines have even fallen off with no ill effect. What made this incident less usual, and more dangerous, was that bits of the engine exploded outward, damaging the wing and, according to some sources, parts of the control system, on the A380 superjambo, the biggest passenger jet in the world. That it landed safely was probably due to combination of good design, in that A380 has two separate control systems and can survive the loss of one, and good luck, in that the engine fragments did not hit more crucial parts of the plane.
For Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest aircraft-engine maker, the safe landing did little to avert worries over the engine's safety. Quantas grounded its other A380 and voiced concern over possible design flaws in the engine. European airsafety officials' initial investigations suggested an oil leak, leading to a fire, may have caused the failure. The Australian airline found oil leaks in the same type of engine on other A380, and Singapore Airlines found oil stains in its A380s' engines. The news, coming after an incident involving an engine on Rolls-Royce's test bench, rattled investors and airpassengers. Yet their reaction is overblown.
Engine failures of the sort that seems likely to have occured are unusual but not unheard of. Earlier this month America's Federal Aviation Authority asked airlines using engines produced by Pratt and Whitney for the Boeing 777 to inspect them after reports of a large number of cracks in their compressors that could have led to similar uncontained engine failures.
Any design problem, if one is found, is also likely to be specific to this particular engine model,which is still relatively new and is in use on only 20 aircraft so far. This would take a little of the shine from Rolls's gleaming image but probably not do much damage to its prospects. The engine in question is a modification of the Trent family, of which more than 1,700 are in service. These have accumulated millions of hours of flying time and an enviable safety record. Another 2,500 or so are on the order books. Only about 70 of the variant involved in the A380 incident are on order. Four decades ago Rolls-Royce was nationalised, having suffered delays and cost overruns after betting everything on developing a new jet engine. Now it is a private firm with a broad and stable business： the fallout from any engine failure can be more easily contained.
