But There Were Problems.............

With the Engines.........

Imagine my horror when on 11th November 2010, I hear a report on the news that  an engine of one of the A380's had blown out at 10,000ft,

only 20 minutes into a flight from Sydney Australia to Dubai.

I remember how embarrassed I felt for my Baby Monster, and not to mention the injured pride. After all, this was the latest in flying monsters that was not American.

The engines concerned were the Rolls Royce Plc Trent engines; this caused Qantas to ground the SuperJumbo, and they were grounded for nearly a month.

I felt so bad about this - almost as though I had something to do with it. I was desperate to hear good news - to hear that the planes would be flying again.

The last time I can remember engines falling off planes, was off the Lockheed Tristar L1011 last millennium.

It's just not the news that you wish to hear, is it?

A380's use two types of engines.

-->

GP7200 engines built by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric Co and Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The also use

--> Rolls Royce Plc Trent engines. These two bodies got together to try to find out why the engines on these Euro Jumbos were in jeopardy. In any event, the blow out was quite dramatic for those who experienced it.

-->                             The damaged engine         

"I saw a flash. I thought it could have been lightning, but then we saw flames come out of the engine. The whole interior of the A380 lit up," passenger John Fothergill, 49, from New Zealand told Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

I remember feeling worried whether or not would come out of this incident on top; how would orders of the  mega-jet be affected?

Well, there are eighteen airlines flying these 'Euro-Jumbos'.
The outstanding orders to be fulfilled are 262. They cost $375 million each. That's a few billion dollars of orders,isn't it?
         

                        A380 engines in pristine condition.