ATSB Is Readying Initial Report On The Engine Incident

Australia's Civil Aviation Authority CASA says it will have the final say in when Qantas' fleet of A380 aircraft can return to service. A Qantas jet experienced a catastrophic engine failure shortly after departure from Singapore last week, causing the airline to ground its entire fleet of the super jumbo jets.

CASA will "decide if it's happy or not" with the findings from an internal investigation being carried out by the airline, Rolls-Royce which makes the Trent 900 engine that failed, and Airbus, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Rolls-Royce said in a statement Friday that the issue with the engine is specific to the Trent 900, and that the failure was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine. This caused an oil fire, which led to the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc.

The Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it would publish a preliminary report on the incident not later than December 3. Qantas, which is the second-largest operator of the Airbus super jumbo jets, had indicated that it would return them to service "as soon as possible."

FMI: www.casa.gov.au, www.atsb.gov.au