The initial assessment into the engine failure of a Rolls Royce engine in a Qantas Airbus flight over Batam island found there were problems with the release of oil in the engine.
This led to a fire, which caused the 'liberation of disc elements' and thus 'an uncontained engine failure', ATSB Commissioner Martin Dolan said.
Dolan put this down to a manufacturing defect in oil pipes in Trent 900 engines, and said Rolls Royce will now be checking all Trent 900 engines.
He said the report was 'a very effective example' of cooperation with Rolls Royce.
"That was initially responded to by ensuring there were regular inspections for oil leakages in the engine in the Airbus 380.
"And on that basis with caution continued operations were seen as acceptable."
Mr Dolan said there had been extra checks over the past 48 hours involving Rolls Royce, which led to an official safety recommendation on Thursday.
"(We) determined there was a particular problem that at that stage not been identified and we therefore yesterday issued a safety recommendation in relation to that issue, which was
essentially ... potential manufacturing defects in oil pipes in a number of Trent 900 series engines, which have the potential to lead to fatigue, cracking, the liberation of oil and the sort of things that happened in the incident over Batam Island", AAP reported.
Dolan added it had been a fast-moving review, and reported that the crew heard two loud bangs after taking off, before taking a range of actions.
He said they did not know how long it will take to fix all of the engines.
Qantas has flagged possible legal action against Rolls Royce, the makers of the jet engine, if a commercial settlement is not possible.
Share
